For whom do you stand for?
by Where'sTheFood
Summary: What if Levy had participated in the Grand Magic Games? She had become stronger with every obstacle she had face since Phantom Lord arc and now it's the time to stand up for her nakama. She'll show the world how strong and stubborn a little fairy can be. Post- Tenrou Island and the 7-year gap. Spoilers up until the GMG. I'll stay as cannon as possible. Levy-center but also Gajevy
1. Chapter 1: Prepare for Battle

**For whom do you stand for?**

 **Summary: What if Levy had participated in the Grand Magic Games? She became stronger with every obstacle she faced and now was the time to stand up for her nakama. She'll show the world how strong and stubborn a little fairy can be.**

 **This is an idea that just popped in my head and couldn't stop myself from writing it down. I'll try to stay as cannon as possible but I'll also take a few liberties. Hope you enjoy it!**

It was the second day of the Grand Magic Games, Raven Tail just won against Lamia Scale and ripped Toby's lost sock in front of the whole arena. It brought everyone on edge but the competition had to continue.

"Well… let's compose ourselves and move on to the second match of the day" said the announcer/judge Chapati Lola "Quatro Cerberus - Bacchus!" The whole stadium roared in cheers when said competitor came forward.

"Against Fairy Tail A's…" the judge continued

"Us, uh…" Erza said.

"What'll we do if it's Natsu?" Lucy questioned worriedly.

"We'll smack him awake" Gray replied.

"That guy… was on par with Erza, right?" Elfman wondered.

"There he is! I don't care who does it! Take revenge for me!" Cana exclaimed angrily from the audience seats, Macao alongside her trying to comfort her "Cana, calm down…"

( **A/N** I don't give a damn about the part of the king and Arcadios so I'll just ignore it… go read the manga if you're interested in that)

"Elfman!" the judge announced. Said mage widened his eyes in shock at hearing his name being called for battle.

"Go forth, there is no path for us but that of victory" Erza stated, encouraging (?) Elfman.

Once he took his place in the arena in front of Bacchus, he could hear the different reactions amongst the crowd. Some encouraging him, but most of them stating how the battle was decided in favor of the Quatro Cerberus' competitor.

"Uhmm… wait a moment, please…" they heard the judge said in a hesitant tone, causing the crowd's attention to go back to the judge's panel "There seems to be a problem with the registration form of Elfman Strauss... which means that he cannot compete in this battle"

"EHH!" was the collective shout from Fairy Tail and some of the audience. Elfman was in shock about the news! Did this mean that they automatically lost 10 points for some paperwork crap?! It couldn't be!

* * *

"Master! What happened?" Lissana asked Makarov as the old man tried to shake out from the shock. He shoved his hands in his pockets trying to find something and, sadly, he did. With an abashed expression he took out the piece of paper that needed to be attached to Elfman's registration form and without it, said mage wasn't allowed to compete.

"Seems I made a tiny bit mistake, hehe" the master said while rubbing the back of his head shamefully.

"YOU THINK!" came the shout from all the Fairy Tail mages in the audience.

"Does this means that we lose the match automatically?" Lissana asked.

"No, it doesn't!" Levy replied with confidence. They all look at her to urge her to continue with the explanation. "According to the Grand Magic Games rulebook, when a participant is disqualified due to technicalities such as this one, the reserve member from the team can take his or her place. In this case, since Elfman is the first reserve member of team Fairy Tail A and Wendy is yet to recover, the one that will take his place in the battle shall be the second reserve member" she finished proudly, everyone around her calming down after her explanation.

"Then, who is the second reserve member?" Bisca asked to no one in particular. They turned to look at the master, since he was the one who submitted all the paperwork for both teams.

Makarov stroked his chin, trying to remember the order he placed the mages in the file. Then, realization hit him and his eyes widened as he now knew who was going against Bacchus. He turned slightly to look at Levy and muttered a low "I'm sorry"

"Master, what…?" before Bisca could finish her question, the voice of the judge resonated through the arena once more.

"Okay, fellas! With Elfman's technical disqualification, Fairy Tail A's second reserve member shall take his place in the battle. Without further stallment, the battle shall be Quatro Cerberus - Bacchus against Fairy Tail A - Levy McGarden!" the judge finished with excitement.

"WHAT?!" the whole arena was able to hear the high pitched shout that the solid script mage let out after the news.

* * *

The judges conceded 5 minutes for Levy to prepare before the battle started (and for her to make it from her place in the audience to the battle arena). She was in the lockers room, mentally preparing herself for the battle. She knew about Bacchus strengths, she had study them beforehand in order to help Fairy Tail teams with strategies if needed to. She never thought that she would be the one needing a strategy right now.

Her fighting style was more concentrated in range attacks, but they were slow and weak, whilst Bacchus attacks will be close ranged, fast and powerful. She had to concentrate hard in order to find a way to defeat her opponent. She knew she could do it, she had the confidence in doing so. After everything that went down in Tenrou Island, after Acnologia's attack, and after unlocking her second origin, she knew she had the ability to come forth victorious in this battle.

Still, she couldn't help but to feel unease by the situation. She wasn't a fighter; she avoided fights whenever she could. But this time, there was no way around it; she'll have to fight, for Fairy Tail, for her nakama, for her team. Her shoulders shook with nervousness as she kept trying to find the right way to defeat Bacchus.

3 minutes before the battle starts.

 _I can do it. I know I can. I know I will win._

"Levy-chan" Lucy's voice dragged her out from her inner thoughts and she looked up to see the blonde standing right in front of her. "You okay?" Lucy asked in concern.

"Yeah, just trying to calm my nerves…" she tried to say it with confidence but ended up sounding like she had already lost the match. She hated when her nerves made her sound weak and small; that wasn't how she felt right now, quite the opposite, she felt big and strong, with a great opportunity to show the world what Fairy Tail was capable of.

"You'll do great, I have faith in you" Lucy said with a smile. She was one of the few persons that never dared to underestimate Levy. She knew that her friend was a force of nature that wouldn't be stopped when put into action. Still, the stellar mage was a little nervous too by the match, she didn't wanted Levy to get hurt, but all she could do right now was to give Levy her support in any way possible. "If there's anything I can do, just say so, ne?"

"Thanks, Lu-chan. It means a lot that you're here" Levy replied with a wide smile. Confidence started to flow through her body as her posture straightened, shoulders squared. She thought for a moment and an idea came to her mind in an instant. "Actually, there is something you can help me with"

"Alright, what do you need?" Lucy said.

Levy smiled at her, this will give her the last boost she needed so much.

2 minutes before the match starts.

The thundering of the arena resounded in her ears. It was almost as loud as the beats of her heart.

 _I can do this. I can do this._

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let's keep going with the battles of the day. The second match of the day will start in a few moments! The competitors of this match: Quatro Cerberus- Bacchus..." the judge said through the loudspeaker and the audience went crazy as Bacchus once again entered the arena through the door that was opposite to the one she was standing right now.

"... versus Fairy Tail A - Levy McGarden!" the judge finished and with the cue, Levy entered the arena. The noise wasn't as loud as it had been when Bacchus entered, but it was louder than the day before and she could clearly distinguish the voices of her nakama calling at her ' _You can do it, Levy_!' ' _Show them what you got!' 'Kick his ass!'_ were the phrases she managed to recognize.

None of those shouts were as loud as her mind's.

 _This is your chance._

 _Show them how big you are._

 _Do it for them! Jet, Droy, everyone, for all of you, I'll become bigger than a dragon!_

She squared her shoulders and firmly locked her gaze on her opponent.

* * *

She entered the battle arena, and whilst he hadn't moved from his spot against the wall with either of the previous battles, Gajeel couldn't help it when he found himself leaning on the railing of the 'palco' ( **A/N** couldn't found the translation, someone please help me with that). He didn't doubted Levy's ability to win the match, he was certain that she had already figured out a way to outsmart the idiot that was laying on the ground lazily in front of her. No, he had faith in her, but he couldn't help the uneasiness he felt about the battle.

The night before, he heard Titania talked about the drunkard that defeated Alberona in a drinking match. He heard the wariness that her voice tried not to show when talking about that man. He knew that if anyone managed to make Titania talk that way when describing that person, it meant that this Drunk Falcon was more dangerous that he let it show.

He felt uneasy because he didn't wanted Shorty to get hurt. And he knew that, if that was the case, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, he would just have to stand there and watch as someone hurt her. That thought made the hairs in his nape to bristle.

He noticed then the outfit she was wearing and grinned, that stupid grin that showed he was proud to be part of the same guild and proud that she had become one of his closest friends.

She let go of the orange sundress, that beautiful piece of clothing that make her look more gorgeous if that was even possible, and traded it for a black tank top, orange tight sport shorts and snickers. Her guild mark was visible on her shoulder blade and her hair was tied high in a ponytail with a few strands of hair framing her face and a black bandana with orange stripes holding the rest of the hair out of her eyes. He then saw her wrists. Two grey bracers, one on each hand, looking very similar to the cuffs he wore. Of course hers weren't made out of metal, that would be uncomfortable, but they still made her look tough and he knew she had a plan on how she was going to use them for her advantage.

She looked like a warrior. A tiny warrior but still fierce like a dragon. Gajeel couldn't be prouder of her.

* * *

"What's with her outfit?" Gray asked Lucy after she got back from the lockers room.

"Virgo gave us a hand" Lucy said smiling and leaned further into the railing to have a better sight of the battle.

"Shouldn't she worry more about the battle than what she wears?" Gray said unimpressed.

"You know Gray, sometimes the right outfit can be the difference between victory and defeat in a battle" Erza said, nodding in approval of Levy's clothes.

"Ugh… why did I even ask?" Yes, Gray, why did you even bother to ask the re-equip mage and the cosplay girl about clothing choices?

"This shall be an interesting battle" Erza noted. "Levy is a ranged attack mage, as long as she keeps her distance from Bacchus, she has a chance at winning this battle"

"Is he really that terrifying, Erza?" Lucy asked, concern could be noticed in her voice.

"Bacchus's magic is a type that focusses magical energy in the palms of his hands. It's a relative orthodox magic. However the secret to his strength is mastery of a martial art that allows him to use that magic to its fullest potential. It's called the hanging-chop fist. It's a martial art that uses special stances to make particularly effective use of 'palm strikes'" Erza said "What's even scarier is that he's added some improvement to that and created a drunken hanging-chop fist"

"Drunken… like with booze, you mean?" Gray asked.

"Yup, it's impossible to predict the drunken falcon's attacks. On top of that, the destructive power is enhanced as well, which is part of his key to victory" Erza continued.

"So, that's what he has in that gourd?" Lucy asked, pointing at the container that lay beside Bacchus.

"No doubt about it. If Levy wants to win, she must defeat him before he has even a single drop of alcohol in his system" Erza finished.

The match was about to start.

* * *

Bacchus was just lying down on his side lazily. Like there wasn't about to be a battle right there and then. It made her feel insignificant, like he was underestimating her.

 _Good. Let him think that way_ Levy thought.

She stopped a couple meters in front of him. Her eyes never leaving her foe.

"Cute little fairy, eh? Hey… why don't we make a bet like those guys just now?~" Bacchus said carelessly.

"Hm?"

"You look like a nice woman, even when my tastes are a little bit curvier~… If I win, you'll spend the night with me and I'll show you how a man can make a woman squirm" he said with a look full of lust.

Levy tried not to react at his words. She tightened her fists. She was disgusted by this man's words, but knew it was just for a show, to taunt her.

 _Good, let him think he can get into my head_ she thought.

"You're a sick bastard!" "Crazy perv!" she managed to hear the angry shouts of Jet and Droy. Of course they heard Bacchus' words; the arena was enabled with screen and audio lacrymas for the audience to see and hear clearly everything that went on the arena.

Levy's gaze shifted quickly to the area where Team Fairy Tail B was standing. They were far away from her, but she managed to notice Gajeel tightening his jaw in anger. Maybe Bacchus's words got to him too.

 _Don't worry guys, I got this._

"And if you win… let's see…" Bacchus continued.

"You talk too much" Levy said strongly. She readied her stance, hands brought forward glowing from magic power.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement" he sat up straight, pushing himself up to his feet "My soul is shaking"

"Let the match begin!" the judge said and the arena erupted once again into loud cheers.

* * *

"Good, we made it on time!" Freed said as he entered the area where Team Fairy Tail B was standing. Pantherlily flew beside him and landed on the railing at one side of Gajeel.

"The hell you're doing here?" Gajeel asked Lily with an incredulous expression.

"We wanted to have a better view of the battle" Lily said _and I plan to stop you if you try to do something stupid._ Lily needn't to voice out the last part for his dragon slayer to know it to be true.

"Tch, whatever." Gajeel said crossing his arms over his chest and returned his attention back to the battle arena.

"This is going to be an interesting battle indeed" Freed said as he stood closer to the railing between Mirajane and Lily. "I think that she has the upper hand as long as she can keep her distance from him"

"It's unusual to see you so excited about a battle, Freed. Especially if it's not Laxus who is fighting" Mirajane said and giggled.

( **A/N** I'm not into MiraxFreed, I'm more of Miraxus but I think Mira and Freed are good friends, don't interpret their interactions as more than friendly, that's not my intention. Also, I don't think Freed as gay, not that I have anything against it, but he seems to be just someone who is very apprehensive of his friends, not in a romantic way.)

"Well, of course. Levy is a script mage and even when our magic techniques are different, the bases are the same. I want to see the strategy she'll use to win" Freed finished and rested his forearms on the railing.

Gajeel heard the conversation and inwardly smirked. Of course, the nerd would be excited about another nerd fighting. Sure thing, Levy would be doing the same if the roles were switched.

Then, Gajeel heard the bet Bacchus offered and he felt his jaw tightening in anger and disgust.

 _Fucking bastard, talking to Levy like that_. _Try to lay one finger on her outside the battle and I'll rip your balls out._

He heard the shouts from Jet and Droy and he was glad he wasn't the only one thinking of shredding to pieces that Quatro Cerberus shithead. After all, Levy has a lot of friends that cherish her deeply, so if this bastard thought it a good idea to dream of having a night with her, he was in for a sea of pain delivered by at least the two males of Team Shadow Gear and Gajeel.

He smiled when he noticed Levy readying her fighting stance. She seemed undisturbed by the bastard's words.

 _You can do this, Shorty._

"Let the match begin!"

 **That's it for Chapter 1. I have all the story written down, so it should come up really fast, just need the time to edit it. Hope you like it and please tell me if there are any grammar mistakes (English is my second language and I want to improve at it).**

 **Question: Does it makes sense that I'm going from one POV to another and that I'm sometimes rewinding in time a little bit (like the last part with Lily and Freed)? Or would you find it easier if I just put whose POV it is? Thanks! I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow**


	2. Chapter 2: Hold your ground

**Hello again, I told you this would go down quickly. Here's second chapter, hope you like it! Please leave a review, follow or favorite since there will be more chapters to come (this was intended to be just a short one-shot but kept getting bigger and bigger)**

 **Shouts out to kurisu313. His story Iron Body & Shinning Soul gave me the rough ideas on how to write the fighting scenes. If you haven't done it already, go and read his story. It's really good!**

 **Disclaimer: I forgot to mention this in the previous chapter, but I own nothing about this story.**

 **Just a small reminder of last chapter:**

Gajeel smiled when he noticed Levy readying her fighting stance. She seemed undisturbed by the bastard's words. 

_You can do this, Shorty._

"Let the match begin!"

* * *

( **A/N** So, the previous sections I had been going from Fairy Tail Team A to Team B to the audience and to the fighting arena. I don't think the next part would work like that, so I'll be just going from one to another just stating who is saying what. Hope it's clear enough for you)

Bacchus dashed forward to attack Levy. His speed was as impressive as rumors had said.

But what shocked Fairy Tail mages weren't the movements of the Quatro Cerberus' competitor, but how Levy reacted to those.

As Bacchus moved forward, Levy did it as well. She dashed head on towards her opponent without casting any spell first.

"What is she doing?" Lucy asked Erza. _Didn't Erza just say that Levy's chances of winning improved if she kept her distance? Why is she closing the gap with Bacchus?_ the stellar mage wondered.

They saw as Bacchus brought his right palm up front to hit Levy right on her cheek. Surprisingly, mostly to the man, the attack missed its target as Levy ducked down and took one more step forward, diminishing the gap between them to just one step.

With his right arm extended to the front, Levy found it easy to land her attack on his right bicep.

"Solid Script Magic: Shock" she said as her right hand brought the magic word to her opponent's bicep, sending an electric shock through his body.

Before he could shake out of the attack, she brought her left hand in front of her to land another attack on Bacchus. "Solid Script Magic: Burn" the word was placed on his abdomen, causing his skin to sizzle and to fume.

After the second attack, Bacchus reacted, bringing his left hand down to hit Levy on her back, but as fast as she had closed the gap between them, she moved away from him, avoiding his attack once again.

She stood up a couple of meters away, facing him with her arms up, ready to cast another spell.

Bacchus inspected his arm and abdomen, analyzing the damage dealt by her attacks. His skin stung at the touch but there wasn't much more damage to it. Still, he was impressed that she had avoided two attacks.

"That was great! How did Levy-chan do that?" Juvia asked.

Lily and Gajeel just grinned without giving her an answer.

Bacchus then dashed forward once again, now aiming to attack with his left hand. Levy reacted the same way as before, closing the gap between them.

His attack, even when aimed a little further down, missed once again. She landed hers by touching his left forearm with her right hand.

"Solid Script Magic: Ice" the attack caused his arm to go numb from the cold, but this time, the rest of his body was able to react faster.

Knowing she was going for the same strategy than before, his right hand was brought forward to hit her right on the face once she closed the gap between their bodies. It caught him by surprise when his right hand missed its target when she ducked down to her knees, and slipped right between his legs due to the inertia her body had.

She put both hands up at the same time, placing them on both of his calves "Solid Script Magic: Burn". Her attack landed perfectly and she scurried herself away from him before he fell down to his knees from the pain.

She stood up quickly, again hands up ready to keep fighting. Bacchus was down on his hands and knees, recovering from her attacks.

* * *

"Go Levy-chan!" Juvia cheered as loud as almost all Fairy Tail mages did. Levy seemed to be holding her ground against Bacchus perfectly.

"Impressive. So she is using her height to her advantage" Freed said analyzing the fight.

"How come?" Juvia asked.

"Well, it seems that Bacchus is used to fight against taller opponents. With Levy's height, it is easier for her to duck out of his attacks. Also, by closing the gap between their bodies, Bacchus' long arms don't have enough space to gain momentum to increase the power in his attacks, while Levy's short arms can deal a considerable amount of damage within that small space." Freed finished the explanation.

"Amazing! Juvia is highly impressed by Levy-chan's technique!" Juvia said in a cheerful voice.

Lily and Gajeel looked at each other and grinned. This was one of their teachings to the bookworm when they were training before the S-class exams. They taught her how to use her size to her advantage against her opponent whenever she found herself in a close range battle.

* * *

"She's doing great! Go, Levy-chan!" Lucy cheered from her spot.

"She's holding her ground pretty well, but why isn't she casting long range spells? Wouldn't it be less risky for her?" Gray asked.

"Bacchus is fast. Most likely, Levy's long range attacks would be too slow for his speed and they would miss a lot. She doesn't have the magic pool to spend in attacks that will probably miss the target. By having a close range combat, she can cast less complicated spells and have more accuracy" Erza replied.

"But she is exposing herself far too much. Bacchus probably already caught on the height difference and his attacks will be more precise" Gray argued. Bacchus started to rise up to his feet.

"Yes, I expect him to have notice the difference already too. But I believe Levy wouldn't rely entirely in her size to gain victory in this battle. She'll have more surprises up her sleeves" Erza finished and leaned closer to the railing.

"Yo!" Natsu greeted as he joined Lucy and the rest of his team along with Wendy and Carla.

"Natsu! Feeling better already? Uh? Wendy, Carla, I thought you guys were going to stay a little bit longer at the infirmary…" Lucy said as she greeted her friends.

"Some shit happened. We'll explain later. How's the battle going?" Natsu asked.

* * *

Bacchus was already on his feet, rolling his shoulders and flexing his arms and knees trying to get rid of the pain.

"Little fairy is slippery. That's good, it'll come handy tonight" Bacchus grinned at her.

Levy didn't react to his words. She was concentrating. She didn't even hear Fairy Tail's cheers.

 _Concentrate, focus Levy. Plan A won't work anymore, move to Plan B._

Bacchus lowered his stance. He bent down his knees a little further, so the height difference wouldn't affect his attacks anymore.

With that position, Levy knew his attacks will hit on target, she'll not be able to dodge that easily now. But with that position she knew too that he wouldn't get enough momentum for his strikes to be that powerful.

 _Still, remember the Chariot, he doesn't need too much momentum to pack a punch_ she thought.

 _Plan B, yes, move to Plan B._

Bacchus dashed forward again, but this time, Levy waited for him to come to her.

His right palm came forward to get a direct hit at Levy's face. With the height adjustment, there was no space to duck his attack.

"Solid Script Magic: Shield" the word appeared in front of her, hold up by both her hands. His right palm slammed at the 'ld' of the word, causing the spell to vibrate from the impact but it hold on, effectively stopping Bacchus attack.

"I got you now!" he exclaimed excitedly as he brought his left palm around the word trying to hit her on her right side. The distance between them, allowed him to move his long arm, avoiding the defensive spell, and, with both her hands holding the shield, she was wide open to his attack.

Then, another surprise came when his left palm slammed to the 'Shi' of the word.

In the moment he tried to attack her right side, Levy had broken down the word into two defensive barriers: one 'Shi' attached to her right bracer, the other one 'eld' attached to her left bracer.

This allowed her to stop both of his hands with her defensive spell, while leaving her hands free to cast another spell to the now open chest of her opponent.

By the time Bacchus caught on, he felt the blast hit him right on his torso. "Solid Script Magic: Fire" Levy said and the word flew forward to hit him directly.

Bacchus staggered backwards due to the force of the spell. This type of spells didn't needed direct contact to cause damage, but required more time to be casted and shot forward. By stopping his hands with her split up shield, Levy got the time and precision to cast 'Fire' perfectly.

* * *

"That was incredible!" Freed exclaimed as he leaned further into the railing from excitement.

"Wait, I thought that whenever her words break down, they'll lose the magic power. How did she manage to split it up into two shields?" Lily asked Freed.

"You're correct. Once the word is broken down, its magic vanishes, causing it to lose its concept and solidity" Freed stated. "But the fact that she attached them to her bracers makes it possible for both sides of the word to still be connected without touching directly. You see, she's using her body as a link for the word, so the shield will not lose its magical properties or solidity. And even more impressive is the fact that she attached them in a way that she can use them as defensive spells but granting her the opportunity to keep casting offensive spells. Really impressive I must say." he finished nodding vigorously.

"She became stronger" Mirajane said with a smile. Her eyes showed fondness and pride at the solid script mage.

 _Keep going, Shorty. You got this._ Gajeel thought and smirked. She really was giving her all.

* * *

"This is shocking! With just a couple minutes into the battle, Bacchus seems to be in quite a predicament! Even with his overwhelming strength, Levy McGarden has found a way to avoid his attacks and connect her own against Bacchus. This is turning out to be a great fight!" the announcer's voice reverberated through the arena.

The audience started to roar. "Go Levy!" "You can do it, small one!" "Go Fairy Tail!" were some of the shouts that could be distinguished amongst the noise.

 _Stupid fairy_ Bacchus thought as he dusted off his torso from the burn he just received. He grinned at her. _Well, this might get a little more fun than I thought._

"Guess I need to step up my game, ne?~" Bacchus said and grinned evilly at Levy. "Not holding back anymore, small fry" his voice was deeper with evil intent.

"Bring it then" Levy answered, unfazed by his expression.

Bacchus speed increased, his strides became longer, and he reached her position in a blink of an eye. His palms struck her 'Shield' several times, not taking a break between attacks, plummeting at the defensive spell with all his strength.

She managed to keep up with his attack, moving the 'Shield' to every direction his next attack came. With each palm strike, his attacks became stronger and faster, causing the 'Shield' to rumble more with each hit.

She held her ground during the assaults, but eventually, her 'Shield' broke down to pieces and that was all Bacchus needed.

With a fast and powerful movement, his left palm reached to the right side of her face, striking her with such might that he hurtled her to the other side of the arena, rolling head over heels, until finally stopping several meters away from him.

* * *

"Wow! What a hit! With just one palm-strike, Bacchus managed to send Levy McGarden to the other side of the arena! Can she stand up?" the announcer said.

 _Can I stand up? As if that attack would knock me out of the fight._

Levy was lying on the ground on her side. Bacchus' attack had been strong enough to break her 'Shield' and send her to the other side of the arena. He truly was strong, she recognized that.

She groaned and, slowly, started to pick herself up. Good thing she managed to put her right hand up with a smaller defensive spell to cover her face. Otherwise, that would have been a K.O. for sure.

Levy stood up on shaky legs and faced her opponent one more time. With the back of her right hand, she wiped away a trail of blood coming from her mouth.

It was frustrating. She had landed six perfectly strong attacks on him right on target and he had just landed one on her side, with a defense spell between her body and his palm, but he still looked like he was intact while she had a little bit of trouble to stand up straight.

 _Damn it, Plan B won't work anymore._

"It seems like she can keep up fighting! The battle's still going!" the judge exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

When he saw the palm-strike connected, Gajeel uncrossed his arms and rested them on his sides, ready to move out if it was necessary. He didn't notice it, but his expression also changed from his usual scowl to one of worry.

She was lying on the ground on her side. And for a moment, he tried to concentrate harder to pick up the sound of her heartbeat or breathing. When he heard her groan, Gajeel's shoulders relaxed a little bit and he let go of a breath he didn't knew he was holding in.

 _She's fine, she's fine._

Then, he tensed once again when a smell hit his nostrils. A scent that had haunted him for several nights and he wouldn't be able to forget it for the rest of his life. He smelled her blood.

She was bleeding. It meant that Bacchus hit her harder than he initially thought.

 _Shit_.

And here he was, unable to do anything.

Levy picked herself up, legs shaking from the effort but still standing strong. She wasn't going down that easily. A part of him was proud of her. Another part of him was terrified at the idea. It meant that she would get hurt worst before the battle ended.

And he could do nothing to stop that from happening.

He heard Juvia taking a step closer to him. Delicate fingers barely grazed his forearm in a reassuring way. "Levy-chan will be fine" Juvia's voice was barely above a whisper, but she knew Gajeel could hear her loud and clear.

She knew he was scared; she was that close of a friend to him to know what his body language told. It was good to have her beside him and her words seemed to calm him down even a little bit.

 _Yeah, she's fine. She'll be fine_.

"It seems like she can keep up fighting! The battle's still going!" the judge exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

"Ha! Wanna keep fighting? I got to give it to you little fairy, you got spirit~" Bacchus said in a mocking way.

She wasn't going to give up. Not while her body could still move. Plan B failed; she hadn't considered him to be this strong.

 _Doesn't matter. Recalculate and let's move to Plan C_.

"You know, just stay down and the battle will be over. I know I'm a bastard but ain't the type that enjoys beating the crap out of small women" Bacchus said and smirked sickly. His expression gave Levy the impression that he wanted her to read between the lines of what he just said, as if there was an inside joke that only the two of them could understand.

 _What did he…?_ She was confused by his words.

Then, he tilted his head to the right and looked up and his smirk widened, looking crazier than before. Levy followed his gaze and then noticed what he meant with his words. Her eyes widened as realization hit her.

She told herself to not let him get into her head, but the meaning of these words made her stomach to turn around and a blazing fire to ignite deep inside her gut, causing her temperature to rise from anger.

 _How dared he!_

She looked back at Bacchus, fury visible in her eyes and she tightened her fists.

 _You're going down, prick._

* * *

Gajeel knew what he meant even before Bacchus tilted his head to look straight at him. It made him tensed up one more time. Hairs in his nape bristled and he snarled, showing his sharp canines.

He knew this was a battle and that Bacchus was trying to get into Levy's head, but to use such a dirty trick? To use _him_ to make her lose her focus? Gajeel knew that if he was in Levy's place, it would have been very effective to get into his nerves.

Hell, he even still had nightmares about that night, the night he attacked her and the rest of Shadow Gear. He knew she had forgiven him, as did Jet and Droy, but it was still a very sensitive memory that got everyone in Fairy Tail on edge.

After he showed his loyalty to Fairy Tail, no one dared to mention his time in Phantom Lord; they decided to leave the past in the past and Gajeel couldn't be more grateful about it. To get a clean start at Fairy Tail was everything he had dreamed of, not that he would ever say that out loud. He had repented for his mistakes, and made up for them with the people he had hurt.

And now, this bastard brought that up to mess with Shrimp's mind. It pained him to be reminded of the worst memory of his life, but it hurted him more that Bacchus dared to use that against Levy.

The tension around Gajeel was almost palpable and Juvia took one more step closer to him to rest her hand completely on his forearm to try to calm him down.

Bacchus never broke eye contact with him, and neither did Gajeel. The iron dragon slayer was one second away from jumping into the arena and beat the crap out of that bastard.

Suddenly, a noise dragged him out of his murderous ideas.

"Solid Script Magic: Lightning!"

* * *

Bacchus barely managed to look back at Levy after hearing her casting a spell. The 'Lighting' hit him full force and made him recoil in pain.

When the electric shock subsided, he was still standing and opened his eyes to see the script mage running at full speed at him. He tried to dash forward to attack her but found his legs rooted into place and his arms tied up to either side of him. He never noticed that during the 'Lightning' spell, she casted 'Bind' to make it impossible for him to move.

With one last long stride, Levy leaped forward high enough so her hand, raised up in front of her, could reach Bacchus' chest. With a battle cry, she casted her spell as powerfully as she could.

"Solid Script Magic: Crash!"

When her palm made contact with his chest, a massive magic shockwave was felt in the entire arena. The spell sent Bacchus flying backwards like a rag doll at an amazing speed until he hit one of the surrounding walls, creating a massive crater in it and burying said mage below the falling debris of the wall.

Levy stood there in the middle of the arena, hand still raised in front of her. She was breathing heavily but at least Plan C seemed to have work somehow.

( **A/N** Get it? Because Plan C was to use 'Crash'. Hehe I'm so clever)

* * *

Gajeel stared in shock at the fighting pit. He felt the power in her last spell and knew it must have hurt Bacchus like a bitch. _Good, he deserved that._ The tension he felt just moments ago vanished, his shoulders relaxing a bit and his fists loosening.

"Was that-?" Mirajane stared down at the arena with wide eyes.

"Gildartz's spell" Freed finished.

"Wait, how was Levy-chan able to do that?" Juvia voiced the question everyone had on their minds.

Gajeel turned to look at Freed as the latter explained what just happened.

"You see, solid script magic can cast almost any existing type of magic, but there are certain requirements for that. First, the mage needs to have a deep understanding of the magic they are about to cast; second, they must have enough magic energy to cast the spell; and third, their body must be able to sustain the strain that the spell will put them through. If the solid script mage fulfills these three requirements, they can cast that type of magic" Freed explained.

"So that's how she managed to cast Gildatz's spell…" Laxus said, getting more interested in the fight now.

( **A/N** I don't think Laxus is an asshole that doesn't care about the rest of the guild. He is kind of cool and cares for everyone else, but he doesn't talk that much and that annoys me a little bit because I don't know what I can do to make him interact with the rest of Fairy Tail)

"Not quite" Freed corrected.

"Huh?"

"Look at her hand" Freed said and everyone leaned further into the railing to have a better view of the solid script mage.

Levy's hand was dripping blood, creating a small blood pond on the ground.

Freed continued with his explanation "While Levy had a perfect understanding of 'Crash' and enough magic energy to cast it, her body was not able to sustain the strain from the spell. That means that her attack wasn't as strong as she intended it to be and thus, it didn't get the expected results" Freed's voice was somber.

 _Shit, Shrimp. Don't do something reckless._

* * *

"So that's why she was talking so intently to Pops at Tenrou Island, you know, before all the Acnologia's fiasco" Cana said in understanding.

Makarov and Mavis had given to the Fairy Tail mages in the audience the same explanation Freed gave about solid script magic.

"But still, she got hurt by using that… Was it smart to use 'Crash'?" Droy asked worriedly, looking at Levy's injured hand.

"I don't think she should be using it, no. Gildartz's body is built to use that kind of spells and Levy is not even close to having the physical ability to handle them" Makarov said in concern. "She probably used it trying to do as much damage as she could to Bacchus in one hit but it backfired on her."

"Don't worry. I know she'll pull through. She seems to be a smart girl and wouldn't bet all her money on her physical prowess" Mavis said and everyone agreed.

They resumed their cheering and their 'Go, Levy' chants.

* * *

Levy took off her headband and draped it around her right hand. It hurt a lot, but it seemed that her hand wasn't broken. At least the headband will stop the bleeding.

She hadn't thought it through before casting the spell. She had planned to use it beforehand, that was part of Plan C, but she was supposed to restrain the magic power infused into it so her physical limitations wouldn't be a problem.

But Bacchus' words affected her thinking and she poured out a great amount of magic energy to hurt her foe. How dared he mention _that_? And he even looked up at Gajeel and smirked. _Smirked!_ He had no right to talk about him like that, as if he knew him. He did as many did, judged Gajeel based on something he did in his past, and became oblivious to the efforts the man had done to repent for his sins.

That infuriated her. It wasn't just because it was Gajeel or because of their history, it was because he was nakama. And anyone that dared to say something against Levy's nakama would be answering to her.

She saw as the debris from the wall started to shift and the dust raised by the impact started to settle down. Bacchus stood up not long after that, walking back to the center of the arena.

She managed to hurt him at least a little bit. He had some trouble walking straight and his face showed that at least some parts of his body were in pain.

 _Good_

"Ugh! That hurt like a train…" Bacchus said, holding his hand over the spot on his chest where 'Crash' had landed, trying to ease the pain.

He now was at a fair distance to hear her words.

"Your fight is with me" Levy's voice was steady and her gaze was strong as steel. "I don't care what you say about me or if you talk trash about my abilities… But if you dare to go against my nakama, I'll have no mercy on you" her voice showed the seriousness in her threat.

Bacchus was taken aback by her words and the strength in her gaze. He recovered after a second, showing an unamused expression "Little fairy has some bite in her bark… Good, my soul is shaking!"

* * *

"That's right, Levy! Show him not to mess with Fairy Tail!" Gajeel heard Natsu's shout after Levy's words.

 _Of course the flamebrain got excited by another speech about bonds between the guild_.

Gajeel couldn't help but smile at her threatening Bacchus. Sure, she looked cute when angry and Gajeel mentally wrote down a reminder to tease her more to see that side of her more often.

But the reason he felt something warm within his chest was the fact that she got all worked up not because Bacchus' words reminded her of one of her most terrifying nights, but because his words were aimed to hurt Gajeel and she wouldn't allow that.

She threatened Bacchus with such fierceness in her voice that there was no doubt that she'll keep her word. She intended to protect her nakama.

She had protected _him,_ in her own way: from words that could shatter his soul.

* * *

"The fight's just getting hotter! Who's going to win this match?!" the announcer said in excitement.

Levy tightened her fists and winced as pain travelled from her right hand.

 _Crap. There goes Plan C. Recalculate and move to Plan D._

She grinned.

 _First, I need to use Gajeel's technique_.

"What if I win?" Levy said, smiling tauntingly at Bacchus.

"Huh?"

"The wager… what if I win?" she looked confident and a little bit cocky.

"That ain't happening sweetheart… fine, say whatever you want" Bacchus said and tilted his head in amusement.

"If I win…" she said. _Oh, the guys are gonna love this_. "... the name of your guild will be Quatro Puppy for the rest of the games" Levy pointed her index finger at Bacchus with an amused and challenging expression.

"Pup…" Bacchus almost burst out laughing out loud. Levy caught his team wailing 'What!?' clearly in disagreement with the bet. "Ok, ok! It's decided, then!" Bacchus said as he reached down for his gourd. "Well, then… Let's put an end to things, then…" he drank the contents of the gourd.

His face flushed from the alcohol he ingested and Levy felt a sudden increase in his magic aura.

 _Guess it worked. Got to compliment Gajeel about the effectiveness of his technique, or as I like to call it, 'Taunt the shit out of your opponent'._

* * *

"He drank alcohol!" Gray stared in shock.

"Here it comes, Levy." Erza tensed up as she felt the magic energy increasing in Bacchus' body.

"He's serious…" Lucy said in worry.

"Don't worry. She knows what she's doing." Natsu said with confidence.

* * *

Bacchus raised his hand at Levy, four fingers up "After four of my attacks, victory will be mine" he said and laughed.

Levy brought her hands forward defensively.

 _This is it. Can't screw up now. Recalculate, adjust and execute Plan D._

"Let's see you trying" she taunted him.

In an instant, Bacchus dashed forward at an amazing speed. Levy barely started to cast 'Shield' when his hit reached her. His palm aimed for her chest, but she crossed her arms defensively in front of her, intercepting the attack with her forearms.

"One" she barely heard his voice.

The power infused into the attack was so massive that Levy was pushed backwards several meters and the air in her lungs was forced out. Her feet dug into the ground and drew two deep lines in the soil in an effort to stop her movement. She remained standing once she managed to stop.

Taking a deep breath, she raised her head to see where Bacchus was. She heard Gajeel's deep voice "To your right!" and she turned in time to see Bacchus' palm just a second before it connected with her face. This time, she didn't get the chance to raise her arms defensively.

"Two" his voice sounded amused.

She was sent flying to the other side of the arena, rolling on her side. The power of his attack was impressive enough that it was a miracle that Levy's neck didn't break from the impact. She dug her fingers on the ground and managed to stop her movement. She placed her feet on the ground, in a crouched down position, while she recovered from the attack.

"Levy!" she heard Jet and Droy's warning shouts and saw as Bacchus once again dashed to her position in an instant. He went down further to the ground, knees almost touching the dirt. He was aiming for her abdomen.

Levy put her 'Shield' up this time and crossed her arms in front of her to create a second defense against his attack. Her efforts didn't matter. In an instant, the 'Shield' broke down to pieces and Bacchus' palm pushed her arms into her abdomen. The power infused in this attack was such that she felt as if his palm had dig a hole where her stomach used to be and as if her organs were coming out from her body through her back.

With his palm still in her abdomen, Bacchus raised his stance, bringing Levy's body with him and throwing her like a rag doll behind him. She flew up into the air and then collapsed away from her foe, creating a small dent on the ground from the impact.

"Three"

She laid down on the ground, holding her abdomen with one hand, while coughing out blood and saliva. She tried to breathe in, but her lungs felt as if they had been crushed by the rest of her organs that had been pushed upwards.

She finally recovered her breath and brought herself up to her hands and knees, making an effort to stand up once again. She was on one knee when he heard his voice once again and looked up.

"And for the grand finale…" she saw as he jumped high in the air, spinning head over heels to increase his body's momentum and thus his attack's power. He started to come down, aiming right to her.

 _Crap_.

Her body wouldn't move even an inch. The three previous attacks had taken their toll in her body and now it wasn't responding as she wanted it to.

"Levy!" "Get away!" "Move!" "Come on, Levy-chan!" she heard the shouts from all her friends from Fairy Tail but still her body didn't move. She brought her hands up to prepare for the attack.

"Move, you idiot!" she heard Gajeel's rough voice, filled with worry and some crazy part inside her smiled.

 _I'll make you proud, Gajeel_.

"Four!" Bacchus' voice reverberated with battle lust and just a second after, his attack landed.

Nobody saw her grinning.

 **Sorry for the small cliffhanger. This is far from over! At least, I'm missing 3 more chapters before this ends. And it will just get more epic. Please leave a review, click follow or favorite so you won't miss any update. I don't think I'll be able to post the next chapter tomorrow because of work, but as soon as I can I'll upload it.**

 **Again, big shouts out to kurisu313 for the idea on Levy's fighting style. The use of 'Crash' is something I saw in his story so I shamefully copied that into my story (I'm embarrassed to admit it) That's why I give all the credit for that idea to kurisu313. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3: Faith

**Hello again! I managed to find some time to upload this! Thank you so much to Cirque and Violet Shadow Kurayami for my first and second review on this story. You pushed me to upload this chapter faster. Also, thank you to all of you who follow or favorite this story! It means a lot! Hope you like this chapter and I'll do my best to upload the next one as soon as I can.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. Next chapter I might own something. Gihi!**

 **Last chapter:**

"Levy!" "Get away!" "Move!" "Come on, Levy-chan!" she heard the shouts from all her friends from Fairy Tail but still her body didn't move. She brought her hands up to prepare for the attack.

"Move, you idiot!" she heard Gajeel's rough voice, filled with worry and some crazy part inside her smiled.

 _I'll make you proud, Gajeel_.

"Four!" Bacchus' voice reverberated with battle lust and just a second after, his attack landed.

Nobody saw her grinning.

* * *

"Move, you idiot!" Gajeel shouted to the top of his lungs when he saw that she hadn't stand up and that Bacchus was descending on her rapidly. His hands were on the railing now, crushing it between his fingers from rage and worry.

The attack landed and Levy didn't move away from it.

The earth in the arena cracked into a pattern similar to that of a spider web, with its center being the place where Bacchus landed and where Levy had been. The noise was deafening, even for people without dragon-slayer senses, and a big cloud of dust rose up from the ground.

Sand, dirt and debris were falling all around the battle ground, denying anyone to see where the two competitors were or whether they were still standing. Everyone in the stadium remained silent for a moment, holding their breaths to see what had happened.

"That was a massive attack from Bacchus!" the announcer's voice was the sound that broke through the silence. Murmurs started to be heard in the audience. "Who'll be still standing after that encounter?" the announcer cheered.

 _Fuck… Levy, just… fuck!_

Gajeel was madly searching with his enhanced eyesight for any sign of Levy. He tried, as he did before, to strain his hearing to find her heartbeat or her breathing but there was so much noise this time and the falling debris was interfering with his senses. The only thing he could pick up was the scent of her blood.

 _Fuck_

"Ladies and gentlemen! It seems like someone is coming out from the dust screen!" the announcer said in excitement. "Who could it be?"

Gajeel saw as a shadow started to walk towards a clearing in the arena. It was standing straight, but limping a bit and was dragging something with its right hand.

 _No… please, no._

Bacchus emerged from the cloud of dust and in his right hand was carrying the limp body of Levy, holding her by the back of her tank top. He tossed her in front of him and she rolled a little bit before stopping. She was completely immobile.

"Levy…" Gajeel's small voice showed all the worry he was feeling inside him. He tightened his grip on the railing. He heard Juvia and Mirajane gasped and voiced out a low "No…" as they brought their hands to hover over their mouths.

Bacchus raised his hands in victory and the crowd started to cheer. "It seems that Bacchus is the one that's still standing!" the announcer exclaimed.

Levy's body didn't even move an inch, and Gajeel was finding it hard to hear her heartbeat or breathing. His own heart was beating rapidly in his chest, thundering at his ears, making it harder to concentrate on Levy. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises; sweat, dirt and blood stained the whiteness of her skin.

"Oi... I think I overdid it a little bit... Ya should get some medic here or some shit…" Bacchus voice sounded carefree and he used his pinky finger to scratch his inner ear to emphasize how little did he worry about Levy's wellbeing.

Gajeel's murderous ideas returned full force but he pushed them away as concern took hold of his mind. Levy needed medical assistance.

 _Where's the kiddo?_

He turned to look at Team Fairy Tail A and found who he was looking for. Wendy was about to jump off into the arena in a rush, but suddenly, she was stopped by Natsu grabbing the back of her dress.

"Natsu! Let me go! I need to help Levy-san!" Wendy said and tried to get out of his grip.

"Natsu! Come on! Levy needs help now!" Lucy complained in a high pitch tone, showing how worried she was about her friend.

"Salamander!" Gajeel roared at the fire dragon slayer, red eyes showing concern, anger and despair.

"Calm down. The battle ain't over yet, Metal head" Natsu said in a steady voice. His serious gaze stayed focus on Levy.

"What-?" Gajeel's voice returned to normal and he looked back to the fighting pit.

"It seems like contestant Levy McGarden cannot continue. Therefore, the winner of the match is-" the announcer was about to claim the victory to Quatro Cerberus when Yajima-san stopped him, indicating that something was happening in the fighting arena.

"Wait…" a small voice was heard. Even when it sounded weak, it owned power and strength and everyone quieted down to hear it.

Then, Gajeel saw as Levy started to move and propped her torso up on her elbows. Her voice kept repeating "Wait…" and everyone stared at her.

* * *

Bacchus looked down at her in incredibility. Levy was now on her hands and knees and she kept picking herself up, slowly, steady, but she eventually got to her feet. She was panting heavily and her eyes were shadowed by her hair.

"This is amazing ladies and gentlemen! It seems that Levy McGarden wants to keep up fighting! But will she be able to turn this fight around?!" the announcer sounded impressed.

"Stay down, little fairy" Bacchus voice was serious and devoid of the previous amusement.

 _What the fuck is wrong with this girl? She can barely breathe. What is she doing standing up? Why?_

"Seems like… it's going to take you… more than… four hits… to take me down…" Levy managed to say between deep breaths. Bacchus stared wide-eyed at her.

Then, she raised her head up and grinned at Bacchus, challenging him.

That was all Bacchus needed for his self-control to snap. In an instant, he was one step away from Levy and with an amazing speed, he attacked her with his palm-strikes.

Right side. Left side. Chest.

And with that, Levy flew backwards, slamming against the wall, creating a dent in the surface from the impact and falling down to the ground like a ragdoll.

 _Just stay down, little fairy._

"Levy McGarden is down again! Bacchus is showing no mercy on the little mage" the announcer voiced it out through the loudspeaker.

She started to move again. She got to her hands and knees one more time and seemed to keep trying to stand up once again.

 _Da fuck is wrong with her?! Why does she keep getting up? Why doesn't she just give up? Doesn't she realize she'll die if she keeps standing up? Why is she so into winning this match?!..._

Bacchus mind was racing with a lot of questions as he stared at the Fairy Tail mage in amazement.

He wanted to know the answer to all of these doubts, but he couldn't find his voice to say them out loud. The crowd had fallen into silence once again as they stared at the little fairy pushing herself up from the floor. Finally, Bacchus' mouth opened, but just one word came out of it.

"Why?" He sounded confused, amazed and a little scared.

* * *

"Levy McGarden is down again! Bacchus is showing no mercy on the little mage" Fairy Tail mages in the audience heard the judge's voice through the audio lacrymas. They saw how Levy collided with the wall and how she was now struggling to prop herself up again.

"Master! We should do something! Can't you stop the fight?! She can't continue like this!" Romeo asked Makarov in concern, pulling at his arm to draw his attention. Tears were pricking his eyelids as he felt frustration boiling in his chest. Natsu had taught him to use his magic to protect his nakama, and here he was, just staring as Bacchus beat the crap out of Levy. He couldn't stand it anymore.

The master didn't say anything. He didn't even look back at Romeo. He kept his gaze firm on Levy and his mouth shut tight in a thin line.

"Dad!" Romeo then turned to his father, Macao. "We need to do something!" Macao just looked down to his son with concern in his eyes, but didn't say anything. He seemed to be looking for the right words to comfort the young mage, but couldn't find them.

Romeo turned around and saw the expression of the rest of the Fairy Tail mages in the audience. Worry, concern, anger, frustration, all these emotions were almost tangible in all of them. They were all suffering inside from watching Levy's fight, but neither said anything nor tried to stop the fight.

Romeo's anger increased. _Why aren't they doing anything!? If they are so worried about Levy, we should be stopping the fight right now! What is wrong with all of you!?_

He was about to scream at them, when Jet and Droy suddenly stepped on the railing at either side of Makarov. All of Fairy Tail mages turned their eyes to them as the two mages straightened their posture. Shadow Gear males then nodded at each other, took a deep breath and placed their hands to cup their mouths for their voices to be louder.

 _Yes! They are going to stop the fight!_ Romeo thought.

Boy, to say that he was surprised by what they shouted would be an understatement.

* * *

"… more than... four hits… to take me down…" Gajeel couldn't believe Levy was taunting Bacchus at this point.

 _Shorty, what are you doing?!_

He winced with each hit Bacchus landed on Levy's delicate body and he felt his heart sank down to the deepest part of his gut when she fell to the ground once again after colliding with the wall. He tightened his grip on the railing once more and he was now just holding small pieces of debris and dust in his hands.

But when Levy started to pick herself up once again, he felt like _he_ couldn't take it anymore. Gajeel couldn't stand one more second there, just watching as she endured the pain. He just couldn't.

He closed his eyes and decided to get into the fighting pit and stop the fight. He didn't care about the points, or even if that got him expelled from the rest of the tournament. He just wanted to hold Levy in his arms and protect her from any more harm.

Gajeel's eyes opened and glowed with his resolve. He put his feet over the railing, propping himself up to jump off into the battle ground, when a battle form Lily held him by his shoulders, stopping his movement.

"Stop." Lily's voice was serious and definitive, leaving no place for arguments. That didn't stop Gajeel from arguing.

"Let go, Lily" he growled, silently stating that he would fight seriously with the Exceed if he dared to stop him from helping Levy out.

Then, he felt a tight grip on his right arm. Juvia had wrapped her arms around his, trying to keep him from jumping off the railing. He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Gajeel-kun, have faith in Levy-chan" she looked him straight into his eyes and he could see the uneasiness she felt at that moment by the situation. After all, Levy was also a good friend of Juvia, so it was to be expected for the water mage to worry about the solid script mage's wellbeing. What surprised Gajeel was that Juvia's words seemed to be betraying what she was feeling.

He could tell that she was also dying to go in and help Levy. Then, why was she saying such things? 'Have faith in Levy'? Of course, he had faith in Levy! That was out of the question here. All he wanted at that moment was to protect her! Because he knew that if she kept fighting, she'll only get hurt even! She wouldn't be able to defend herself from another attack and then that bastard-

Wait. 'She wouldn't be able to defend herself'? When did he start to doubt Levy's abilities? Sure, she was small and delicate, but she wasn't stupid. If she was trying to keep on fighting, she must still have a strategy to snatch the victory for Fairy Tail.

Just then, he noticed that no one was cheering for her. All the 'Go, Levy' chants had died out a while ago and the only shouts he managed to distinguish were discouraging ones "Just give up, fairy!" "Ain't nothing you can do little one!" "You're weak! Learn to accept that!"

His blood started to boil. Not just because of the insults the crowd threw out, but because he knew that if he had jumped off the railing, he would have been worse than the crowd. By stopping the fight and holding Levy protectively in his arms, he would have been practically screaming at her that she wasn't capable of winning this. That she was weak. And small. And unable to stand on her own.

It's a pain in the ass that random people try to tell you what you can and cannot do, but it is entirely different that your friends and family are the ones that tell you that. It's soul shattering. Gajeel knew this very well.

He understood then that his instinct to protect her almost did more damage to her than Bacchus' attacks. He understood now why Juvia wanted him to have faith in Levy.

Because right now, the only one that seemed to have faith in Levy was Levy herself.

"I… " Gajeel stammered once realization hit him. His posture relaxed and he pulled away from the railing.

Then, all of them looked up and saw Jet and Droy standing on the railing on the other side of the arena, where the rest of Fairy Tail mages were.

 _What are they doing?_

* * *

Romeo stared at the backs of Jet and Droy as they took a deep breath.

 _Yes, they are going to call off the fight_

He was surprised by what happened next.

"YOU CAN DO IT, LEVY! STAND UP!"

"WE BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"SHOW HIM HOW STRONG TEAM SHADOW GEAR IS!"

"SHOW THE WORLD WHAT FAIRY TAIL IS MADE OF!"

Jet and Droy shouted at the top of their lungs, causing their voices to echo all around the arena. They started to chant "GO, LEVY, GO!" with more energy than at the beginning of the match and soon after all Fairy Tail mages joined them in their cheering.

Romeo was taken aback by this.

 _Why are they doing this!? Why aren't they stopping the fight?! Don't they care about what could happen to Levy?!_

Then, Romeo noticed that Jet and Droy were crying their hearts out during their chants. He noticed that they weren't the only ones crying and that's when he understood why they were doing this.

It pained Jet and Droy to see Levy getting hurt, that was as clear as water. But if she didn't want to give up yet, they would endure that pain for her. They wouldn't lose hope on her; they didn't lose it for 7 years and they weren't going to lose it now.

Romeo let tears streamed down his face and joined the chanting. He looked at Team Fairy Tail A and B and saw them cheering as loudly as them at Levy.

Yes, Levy was in bad shape and seemed like she wouldn't be able to stand up straight one more time. But if she wasn't giving up yet, Fairy Tail wasn't giving up on her either. They'll believe in her as long as she needed them to.

* * *

 _Thanks, guys. I'll make you proud_. Levy thought and smiled after hearing Jet and Droy's voices.

Bacchus heard all the ruckus from the audience and was surprised by all the support they were showing to the solid script mage in front of him.

"That's why…" Levy said in a low, steady voice, bringing herself up to one knee. Her voice was clear enough to catch Bacchus' attention as she continued "That's why I won't give up… for them… for my nakama… for my team…" she dug her fist into the ground and propped herself up a little bit more.

"I don't get it. You'll only get yourself hurt" Bacchus sounded really confused.

More cheers from the audience could be heard.

"Go, Levy!" _Yes, Cana._

"Do it Levy-chan!" _Thanks, Lucy._

"Don't give up, Levy!" _I won't, Erza._

"They waited for me… for 7 years they waited for me and suffered" Levy was now on both feet, knees bent down a little bit, back arched forward and head hung down a little bit. "If they survived that, I can take a little bit of pain for them, to restore the pride Fairy Tail had once." She straightened her posture and raised her head to look Bacchus straight in the eye.

There was a loud cheer from the audience as she looked at him defiantly.

"We believe in you, Levy!" _Thanks, Lily_

"Fight for your nakama!" _I will, Natsu_

"You can do it, Shorty!" _Thank you Gajeel for trusting me._

Levy's face was covered in injuries as well. A trail of blood ran from her hairline, over her right eye and down to her chin, dripping little droplets of blood that stained her tank top. But she looked fierce.

Bacchus shivered a little bit, sensing the strength of her resolve.

"You cannot win" Bacchus' voice tried to sound threatening, but it quivered a little bit.

"That's where you are wrong" Levy's voice was strong and definitive. "You lost this match the moment I stood up."

 **I'm the worst for cutting this chapter here, but if I didn't do it like that, this chapter was going to be enormous. Thanks again to those who have follow, favorite and/or review! You're the best. And so are the rest of you shy people that like to read the story. I encourage you to click follow so you won't miss the next update.**

 **So, just to calm you down: this story HAS an ending and it's already written down. It's only a matter of time until I finish uploading the chapters but don't worry that I'll be going on hiatus or something.**

 **Thanks again and hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **WTF(Where'sTheFood)**


	4. Chapter 4: New partner

**Hello everyone! Thank you for the love you have been showing me! I got super excited to see some of who had favorite or follow this story are authors of awesome stories I read on this site!**

 **So I bring you Chapter 4 now. Hope you enjoy it and give me your opinions if you feel like it :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail storyline or its characters. But this chapter, I own Ampago :) You'll meet him soon enough.**

 **Last chapter:**

Levy's face was covered in injuries as well. A trail of blood ran from her hairline, over her right eye and down to her chin, dripping little droplets of blood that stained her tank top. But she looked fierce.

Bacchus shivered a little bit, sensing the strength of her resolve.

"You cannot win" Bacchus' voice tried to sound threatening, but it quivered a little bit.

"That's where you are wrong" Levy's voice was strong and definitive. "You lost this match the moment I stood up."

* * *

Team B was cheering as loudly as the rest of the Fairy Tail mages. They had faith in Levy.

Freed heard the determination in her voice ' _You lost this match the moment I stood up_ '. Something inside him told him that she still had an ace under her sleeve and he felt excited and a little bit frightened to know what she was going to do next.

Then, he felt as an impressive magic aura started to gather around Levy. The cheering subsided as everyone felt the same and stared in awe at the fighting pit. The wind started to swirl around the solid script mage and the blue clear sky began to get cloudy.

 _What is going on? What is this magic power I'm feeling? That can't be Levy, can it?_ Freed thought as he stared at the solid script mage trying to figure out what she was doing right now.

She looked up to meet his eyes, determination, severity and resolve were visible in her gaze. Her voice also showed all those when she spoke "Freed!" she called his name, specifically his name, with a tone to make sure he was paying attention. Then her voice softened a little bit, but still fierce with the seriousness that her message held "Don't interfere". Then, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.

 _Don't interfere?_ _What are you doing, Levy?_

"Do you know what she's about to do?" Lily asked Freed. Everyone in Team B looked at him for answers but Freed just kept his gaze in the battle ground, trying to decipher what she meant.

'Don't interfere' and the message was specifically directed to him. _That means, I'm the only one that knows what she's about to do or that is able to stop her_.

Levy's magic energy seemed to increase exponentially and soon after, a massive magic circle appeared over her head. It was huge, as big enough to cover more than half of the arena and it glowed intensively from magic power. Everyone stared wide-eyed at her display of power.

"That's a lot of magic! That can't be hers… she doesn't have the magic pool for that" Mirajane's voice sounded troubled.

Then, Levy started to move her arms from side to side, up and down, in patterns Freed had never seen before but somehow seemed familiar. With her hands' movements, she started to create a strange black character ( **A/N** think of it akin a kanji) but Freed wasn't able to read what it was or to understand its meaning. It seemed to be in an ancient language that even Freed, with all his vast knowledge, didn't knew about. With one last movement, the character was finished and it hovered just in front of Levy.

Now that it was completed, he was certain that he had seen that character before.

 _But where? What is it?_

"FREED!" he heard Master Makarov shouting at him and turned to look at him. The master's face showed concern and anxiety; wide eyes were staring at Freed that screamed at him that the rune mage needed to do something and he needed to do it right now! The master knew the spell Levy was casting, and Freed was supposed to know it too…

 _What is it? What is it?!_

Then, he remembered. Yes, the sequence… the patterns… the amount of magic energy required…

"No…" Freed's voice was small but full of worry.

 _That can't be, can it? She wouldn't be able to cast it. It's just impossible._

At that moment, the character started to move upwards, to hover over the magic circle over Levy's head, and it started to absorb the magic into it. The character's lines started to glow from the infusion of magic it was receiving. That's when Freed realized that it wasn't impossible. _She_ was making it possible.

"LEVY DON'T!" Freed panicked and without even thinking, he tried to jump off the railing, but found himself trapped by a death grip from Laxus' arms. "LAXUS, LET GO!" he was freaking out more and more with each second and he trashed around trying to get out of Laxus' grip.

"She told you specifically to not interfere!" Laxus' voice was strong and steady trying to get his message through Freed's troubled mind.

"You don't understand! Just let go!" Freed tried to free himself, but found it impossible.

"What's wrong?!" Mirajane asked with a worried look in her eyes.

 _I need to get down there now! She won't make it! She won't make it!_

"She won't-" Freed answer was cut off as the character finished absorbing the magic energy and everyone turned their attention back to the battle ground. 'It' was glowing intensively and the magic pressure that could be felt in the area was overwhelming.

 _She did it. She completed it._

Freed was incredibly impressed at that moment. He and the master were the only ones that knew what was coming. And boy, it was going to be huge.

A while back, before the S-class trials, the master had given Freed an ancient scroll that the Council had found but couldn't decipher what was in it. Since Freed was a well-known script mage, the Council asked for his help in deciphering it. After several weeks of hard work, he was unable to even get a hint of what the scroll was about, so he asked for Levy's help. Together, they found that the scroll held the knowledge of an ancient spell for script mages; one that was so powerful and complex that no one in the history of magic had been able to complete it. They reported this to the Council and told them that they were unable to completely grasp the secret to cast that spell and that it would be for the best to hide it from curious eyes. If it got into the wrong hands, the results could be devastating.

Freed never expected Levy to keep working on that spell to find a way to cast it. And here he was, watching as she was about to go down in history as the most powerful script mage to ever exist. She completed the most powerful script magic spell he knew about.

The Secret Art of Script Magic.

( **A/N** I have zero creativity for naming new attacks, but bare with me, this will get awesome)

* * *

The way Freed was acting only got Gajeel more nervous. This nerd was usually calm and clear-minded, but something got him freaking out suddenly. He then looked back to Levy as the character she drew finished absorbing the magic circle. It was glowing so brightly and the power it emanated was so overwhelming.

 _What is she about to do?_

Then, she raised her left hand, palm up to the sky, and she opened her eyes to finish casting the spell. Her voice was so powerful that even Metallicana would have stopped to listen to her.

"Secret Art of Script Magic: Unseal: Lighting Dragon Ampago!"

Gajeel's eyes widened when the words came out of her mouth.

 _Did she just say 'dragon'?_

At that moment, the character glowed more brightly. Blue light encased each line of the character.

Then, for two seconds, no sound could be heard in the area.

No voice, no breathing, no heartbeat. Even with his enhanced hearing, Gajeel couldn't hear anything. He saw that everyone was shocked by this too. People's mouths were moving but no sound came out of them. Things were falling on the ground but no noise was created by that either. Likewise, Gajeel looked up to the sky and saw as bolts of lightning started to light up the cloudy sky, but no thunder could be heard.

Their world was completely mute for two seconds.

And then, there was a roar.

From the character, a mighty beast emerged up to the sky. With every inch of its body that came out from the magic character, the wind pressure shifted, causing all the spectators to hold tightly to something and shield their eyes from the strong winds that attacked them.

The mighty beast looked like a giant white snake, but its frame was surrounded by blue lightning, making its scales barely visible due to the brightness of the bolts. Its snout was big and long, and sharp teeth could be seen in its mouth. It had four leg-like limbs that ended in sharp claws, two closer to the head and two further down the tail. It was as big as a train and seemed to be at least half a mile long.

It went up to the sky, hiding itself in the clouds, until its whole body came out of the character. When it did, the character disappeared, and the mighty beast started its decline towards Levy.

The dragon curled its body around Levy and brought its face down to her level. Its emerald-green eyes seemed to be studying her, observing every detail of her body. She didn't even flinch at the beast, even though it could have swallowed her whole without any effort. She stood up there, squared shoulders, back straight, gaze upfront.

Gajeel was in shock, as well as the rest of the spectators ( **A/N** Haha, get it? Because the dragon is made out of Lightning). The only ones that had ever seen a dragon were the dragon slayers and the Fairy Tail mages that got trapped in Tenrou Island. But this beast was different. It didn't resemble any of the dragons they had seen. But it still owned a powerful aura, indicating that it was just as fierce as the other dragons they knew.

If this had been another situation, Gajeel would have laughed his ass off at Laxus' face. He was the lightning dragon slayer, for crying out loud. And here they were, in front of a lightning dragon, with Laxus just staring at the mighty beast with his mouth slightly open.

Then, Gajeel heard how out of the dragon's mouth came sounds that the iron dragon slayer couldn't understand. And, most shockingly, Levy started to voice out similar sounds directed at the beast.

She was talking to the dragon.

 _She's fucking talking to a fucking dragon!_

* * *

" _You're the one who unsealed me_ " the dragon said in his ancient language known as Draconic. Its voice sounded deep, strong, fierce and wise. It sounded the way anyone could imagine a dragon's voice to sound like.

" _I did, lighting dragon Ampago"_ she answered in the same language. Her voice steady and respectful to the mighty beast in front of her. She bowed her head slightly to show the high regard she held for the dragon.

" _You speak the ancient language. Good, you must be a smart one, then."_ Ampago sounded impressed.

" _This is only the proper way to address a dragon, am I right?"_ She smiled at him.

Ampago's chest rumbled with a chuckle. " _Speak your name, child"_

" _Levy McGarden_ "

" _Well then, Levy McGarden, let me have a look into your heart"_ He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward so that it was just one feet away from her.

Levy raised her left hand and placed it over Ampago's muzzle. The electricity that surrounded his body did nothing to Levy and she felt warmth beneath her palm as she touched his scales. Then, she closed her eyes as well and the place where her hand was resting emitted a small light.

* * *

"W-what the-?" Gajeel stuttered and shook his head to compose himself. "Is she talking to a fucking dragon?! Wait! How the fuck did she summoned a dragon!?"

"Is that thing even a dragon?! It doesn't look like Acnologia did..." Lily said, confusion was placed in his voice. He had returned to his small form and was now in Juvia's arms while he shivered and flinched away from the lightning that covered Ampago's body.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like Metallicana either, but it reeks like dragon, so that's the real deal!" Gajeel affirmed in his gruff voice. "Still, I have no idea how Shorty managed to summon a dragon… Any ideas, Nerdy?"

Freed was just staring wide-eyed at the interaction between Levy and Ampago. He was out of Laxus' grip and was supporting himself with the railing as his knees seemed to be failing him.

"No way…" he finally managed to say in a low voice.

 _She completed it. She did it, she fucking did it!_ Freed thought.

"No way!" Freed's voice started to rise. And then, he panicked.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where is it?!" he was searching through his clothes frantically and the others just stared at him confusedly.

"What is it Freed?" Mirajane asked in her sweet voice.

"Damn it, where is-? Aha!" He exclaimed in victory as he took out what looked like a notebook from the inner pocket of his jacket.

Everyone waited for him to do some mighty revelation about what they were witnessing in the battle arena, but got surprised when he turned around again to lean on the railing and started scribbling in the notebook.

"What are ya doing?" Gajeel asked confusedly.

"Taking notes! What does it look like?" Freed said without looking at him. If all members of Team Fairy Tail B weren't such badasses, they would have fallen to the ground in a comical way from the shock of Freed's answer. Instead, all of them sweat dropped.

"Yer what?" Gajeel asked again, evidently he was not believing he had heard Freed right the first time.

The rune script mage was writing down frantically, just raising his head up to look at the fighting pit and then returning his gaze to his notebook. He looked like a little kid excited to be learning new magic spells and complicated rune patterns. Okay, now even he had to admit that he did look like a total nerd, but he didn't bring himself to care.

"I'm taking notes" he said slowly, emphasizing each word gently. "This is a one-in-a-lifetime battle and a huge advance for script magic. I need to write down everything I can" he continued to scribble in his notebook. "Now, shush, you're distracting me" he waved a hand dismissively at Gajeel.

"You little-" Gajeel got angry at the hand gesture but stopped his threatening when a bright light caught his attention. All of them turned their eyes back to the battle ground and saw Levy's hand placed on the dragon's muzzle. The light came out from where she was touching Ampago's snout.

"What is she doing now?" Mirajane asked in awe.

"The dragon is judging Levy's heart" Freed said in a low voice and then continued writing his notes down.

* * *

They opened their eyes at the same time and Levy lowered her hand to her side.

" _So, what do you think?_ " Levy asked Ampago, waiting for his verdict on whether he would be helping her or not.

" _You have an interesting mind and soul"_ he remained silent for a couple of seconds, considering his next statement. _"Alright, I will lend you my assistance."_ he said and gave Levy a toothy smile in what one could describe as a playful grin.

He shifted his body so his tail circled around Levy protectively and he raised his head and upper body proudly. Even when Ampago didn't have wings, his body seemed to be suspended in the air, coiling here and there, while lighting crackled the atmosphere around him.

Then, Ampago turned his head around to look at Bacchus. The Quatro Cerberus' competitor had stare in awe after the apparition of the lightning dragon and was just realizing he was going to fight the beast.

Ampago roared at Bacchus, challenging him to attack and grinned when he noticed the mage slightly flinched away.

"I can't believe what my eyes are seeing, folks! A dragon just joined the fight! This could give this battle the turnaround! Will Bacchus be able to compete with that!?" the judge was at lost at what would happen in the fight.

Bacchus shook his head and his amused expression returned to his face. "Little fairy, if you think that a trick like this one is going to help you, you are wrong. I ain't falling for your little illusion~" he laughed but even when he tried to look confident Levy didn't miss the way his knees trembled slightly from fear.

" _What is he saying?_ " Ampago looked down at Levy for an answer.

" _He is saying that you're a fake, an illusion of the sort._ " she said and smirked as she saw Ampago raised a brow.

" _An illusion? How insulting… Let me show him how real pain feels like_ " he said in a mischievous tone and grinned. Who would have guessed a dragon could sound like that? " _You know the magic sequence commands, right?_ " he asked in his normal tone.

" _Yes"_ she stated firmly and took a fighting stance, her feet spread apart at shoulder-width and hands raised upfront.

" _Good. Let's show him how real I can be_ " Ampago grinned and with one more roar he moved forward.

* * *

Bacchus reacted and dashed forward as well, aiming to meet the dragon at the middle of the battle ground. He wasn't going to get intimidated by a mere illusion.

When he reached his foe, Bacchus started to pummel the dragon's head with his palm-strikes. The speed and power he used was massive and a cloud of dust started to rise up from the wind's pressure created by the attacks.

After several palm-strikes, Bacchus took several steps back, panting heavily and smiling at himself. He couldn't see the dragon because of the dust cloud, but he was certain that the illusion should have vanished after all of his attacks.

His eyes widened when the dust settled down and he found two emerald eyes staring at him directly, a bored expression set in the dragon's features. Not one scratch or bruise was visible on the dragon.

Bacchus then looked down to his hands and saw and felt the damage he received by touching the scales of the dragon. His hands were injured now and stiff from the electricity that travelled through them while he attacked.

He looked up again and realized that _this_ was no illusion. _This_ was a real dragon. A pissed and powerful dragon.

 _Fuck._

Then, the dragon grinned. He fucking grinned at him! Like he found it funny that Bacchus even tried to hurt him.

The dragon growled and moved forward to attack Bacchus. The electricity around its body glowed and a lightning bolt shot forward and hit Bacchus right on the chest. His body curled up a little bit from the electricity and then the dragon's head hit him, pushing him backwards until he slammed into a wall.

 _Fucking great._

* * *

( **A/N** Rewinding a little bit)

"He accepted her…" Freed's voice was low as he stopped taking notes. They were watching as Ampago's tail curled around Levy and then he roared defiantly at Bacchus.

"Huh? What do you mean, Freed-san?" Juvia asked.

"It means that the dragon is going to fight alongside her" his voice still sounded shocked.

"Really? That's awesome!" Juvia chirped. "Levy-chan is going to turn this fight around!"

"Yes, but she still needs to cast the commands" Freed stated in disbelief, watching carefully as Levy readied her fighting stance.

"Commands?" Mirajane asked.

Freed knew about this. Together with Levy, he had deciphered as much about this when working on the ancient scroll. "As far as I know, the dragon is materialized due to her magic and for him to attack, Levy must cast certain magic sequence commands through her script magic. Still, I don't know if she'll be able to do so. I don't think she has much magic energy left and each script command will deplete her magic reserves even further" he said in a stern voice.

Everybody turned their attention back to the fight.

They saw as the dragon moved forward to meet Bacchus at the middle of the battlefield. They watched as Bacchus struck his palms into the dragon's head. They kept their gaze fixed as the dragon then attacked Bacchus and sent him flying to the nearest wall. And all the while, Freed also observed Levy's movements.

"She didn't cast anything…" he said lowly in confusion.

 _But the dragon attacked… she must have casted something, otherwise it wouldn't have done any damage to Bacchus…_

"But you said-" Mirajane was about to repeat his explanation about the commands but was interrupted by the rune mage.

"I know, I know… but she didn't cast anything. No solid script magic, no rune magic… how did she-?" Freed stopped for a moment and then rewinded the image of the fight in his mind. He saw that Levy didn't cast any script magic spell to create a command. Instead, she moved her body from side to side, extending arms and legs as if she was… dancing?

 _What…?_

He looked at Levy, then to the Fairy Tail mages in the audience. After a moment, his eyes widened and he looked back at Levy and then back at the audience. He did this about two more times.

Then, enlightenment descended upon Freed's brilliant mind... but his words weren't so brilliant "Holy shit!" he widened his eyes even more "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" he even seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Everyone stared at him in confusion since it was extremely rare to hear the rune script mage curse so vividly. He then resumed writing down his notes madly. It looked as if smoke started to come out from the pages as he wrote down everything as fast as he could.

"What is it? How did she do it?" Laxus asked. He knew that Freed was going to ignore anyone else that dared to ask him but he wouldn't be able to disregard Laxus.

"She used dance magic!" he said excitedly.

Everyone stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "Umm, Freed? Elaborate, please?" Mirajane asked nicely, urging him to explain more about what he just said.

Freed stopped writing down and looked at them. "Alright, alright…" he took a deep breath. "So, did you see that she didn't cast any script magic but when the dragon attacked she moved as if she was dancing?"

They nodded. "Well, she was using dance magic instead of script magic to cast the commands!" he said and the thrilled smile in his face threatened to split his face in two.

"Wait, like Vijeeter?" Lily asked and Freed nodded vigorously. "But she cannot use that type of magic, can she?"

"Look closely at her wrists and ankles" Freed said and they leaned forward on the railing and did as he told them to. They saw yellow glowing runes that circled Levy's wrists and ankles. Freed decided to continue with his explanation as they kept their gaze in Levy "As you can see, she wrote down special runes on her body to be able to use dance magic. That way, she is _technically_ using a script type magic to cast the commands but she is casting that magic through dance movements.

"Also, she is using the dance magic as compensation for lack of magic reservoirs" Freed continued. "You see, for a script mage, spells need to be written down for them to be casted and this costs a lot of magic energy. By placing the runes in her body, she is using the kinetic energy generated by her body movement to compensate for the shortage of magic energy. That way, she won't be consuming that much magic to cast the commands for the dragon to attack!"

"So, she killed two birds with one stone" Lily said and smiled proudly at Levy's strategy.

"That's amazing! Levy-chan is so smart!" Juvia said, clapping her hands excitedly.

"No" Freed said matter-of-factly and Juvia looked up at him. "That is completely brilliant" his voice was full of pride and he smiled down at Levy before resuming taking more notes. "I have no doubt she'll go down in history for what she just accomplished in this fight" the compliment rolled easily out of his mouth and the rest of the Fairy Tail mages nodded in agreement.

* * *

Ampago returned to his place around Levy and lowered his head to be at eye level with her. " _That'll teach him not to mock a dragon_ " he said and chuckled.

" _I think it will_ " she giggled as well.

" _You have a great control of the commands. I'm impressed_ " he complimented her and she blushed slightly.

" _Thanks_ "

They saw as Bacchus started to pick himself up, not ready to give up yet. Levy then looked down to her hands and realized she didn't have much magic energy left to keep the fight going. She could feel her magic pool being almost completely empty and sensed how her consciousness wanted to fade away out of exhaustion from the fight. She needed to finish this quickly.

" _Ampago…"_ she said to draw his attention back to her " _I don't think my magic can keep you here for long_ " her voice sounded slightly troubled.

Ampago huffed " _Then, we shall end this soon, don't you think?_ "

She nodded.

He then lowered his head to the ground and motioned her to get on the back of his head. She hesitated for a moment but then nodded and did what he had asked her to do. Steadying herself with both hands, she soon was riding on the back of Ampago's head.

Like the first time Levy touched Ampago, the lightning that surrounded his body did nothing to her and she just felt his warm scales where her skin was touching him.

He looked over the corner of his eye to see if she was well positioned and then grinned at her. " _You better hold on tight, little one_ "

She grinned back and showed determination in her gaze before lowering her upper body and tightening her grip on his scales. Ampago's body rumbled from a muffled chuckle he tried to hold in and then began to move. Slowly at first, but when he noticed that she wasn't going to fall, he sped up. He did a loop around the arena before doing a beeline up to the sky, spinning a little bit for every spectator to see the solid script mage on his back.

At first, Levy tensed up from the movement but then relaxed as the wind started to hit her face. A smile was splitting her face in two and without her even noticing she was laughing to her heart's content.

 _I'm riding a dragon… I'm riding on the back of a badass lightning dragon!_ Her mind was screaming joyfully.

They went high up into the sky, but just below the clouds. Ampago's whole body was airbone, doing slithering patterns with his tail and lower body but keeping his head and upper body as steady as possible.

Levy's gaze shifted downwards and she saw how small everyone looked like. Even being so high up in the sky, she managed to see that most of people were watching her with wide eyes and jaws hanging open. She laughed at the irony of the situation: usually people looked down on her and pitied her for being weak and small, but today a huge crowd was gaping at her display of power. She didn't feel like gloating on the situation; she just took a second to encase this moment into her memory, for her to recall it in the future whenever she would find herself losing faith on her abilities.

She snapped out of her inner thoughts when a deep voice spoke ahead of her " _You okay there?_ " Ampago asked the little mage.

She nodded and tightened her hold on Ampago's body " _Let's end this_ "

He huffed in agreement and she felt when his body started to warm up from the increase in magic energy. At first, she loosened her hold on Ampago's back because the sudden augmentation of magic power got her surprised. But then, she placed her hands back on Ampago's body since she knew that the dragon will do nothing to harm her.

She closed her eyes and felt power started to surge through her body as well. Emerald bright runes started to glow on her skin; hands, arms, shoulders, legs, back, abdomen, face… every part of her body felt as if the lightning power of Ampago was travelling beneath her skin. She started to feel as her senses heightened; she could clearly hear the breathing of the audience and even the high pace thump-thump noise from Jet and Droy's hearts. She could also smell the fear that Bacchus' body was emitting and the exhilaration transpired by Jason who was barely containing himself from screaming 'Cool!'

She opened her eyes then and instead of her hazel eyes, they were now emerald, equally brilliant and vivid as Ampago's eyes, which allowed her to see even the smaller detail on the ground below.

Levy and Ampago connected themselves somehow akin to a body link through the emerald runes. They shared their magic power and Ampago's dragon features enhanced Levy's body. Through this link, Levy knew it was going to be easier to cast the magic sequence commands and less magic consuming, consequentially increasing the power of their attacks.

 _This is it. The battle ends here._

She gave a battle cry up to the sky and Ampago roared as well. The dragon's body started to glow more intensely as did the runes in Levy's body. Electricity crackled around them and taking one last deep breath, both descended towards the arena, aiming for Bacchus.

* * *

Bacchus was just able to stare at the dragon that was hovering in the sky.

 _She's riding the dragon… She's fucking riding a dragon!_

Bacchus felt like laughing. Just moments before he had the upper hand in the battle but right now, everything seemed at lost for him. How was he supposed to fight a dragon?!

' _You lost the moment I stood up'_ He remembered what she said just moments before summoning the dragon and he couldn't hold his laughter any longer.

Still, he remembered how the little fairy picked herself up from the ground time and time again and he felt like laughing one more time. She had been crushed and beaten down but she never gave up until she managed to turn the tides in her favor.

 _Funny how she has more backbone than I do._

Then, Bacchus straightened his posture and looked up one more time. He bore a serious expression in his face.

 _The least I can do is fight 'til the end_.

He got into his fighting stance and concentrated all his magic energy in his right hand. If he was going to lose to a dragon, at least he was going down fighting.

He heard the dragon's roar and Levy's battle cry and saw when they started their descent towards him.

 _This is it._

He gave his own battle cry and moved forward. With one long stride, he jumped high off the ground and stretched his right hand forward to meet with the dragon's attack in the air. The massive collision caused a magic shockwave to shake the coliseum and the energy released expanded into a blinding light, forcing all the spectators to shield their eyes for a couple of seconds.

Bacchus felt his body hit the ground. He was still blinded from the light and when his eyes finally adjusted, he could only see dust, smoke and debris all around him. He couldn't see the spectators, or the judge, or his teammates, or his foe.

Then, he heard a roar.

* * *

( **A/N** So I was going to end the chapter here, but I think it would just be mean to do that. So, here's the end of the battle)

 **Chapter 4.5 And the winner is…**

Gajeel recovered from the blinding light and stared in awe at the center of the arena. There was a lot of dust, smoke and debris falling all around it, blocking the sight of the two mages that were just fighting.

Gajeel grinned when a roar erupted from the battlefield.

"Ladies and gentlemen! That was an amazing display of magic power! The battle just reached the time limit. Therefore, the one that's still standing will be declared the winner of the match!" the judge explained and motioned for the wind lacrymas to activate so the dust and smoke could settle down.

Then, the audience and competitors saw Bacchus lying on the ground on his back, gaze fixed up to the sky. Several meters away from him, Levy was standing on her feet with Ampago surrounding her. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and a smug little smile on her face.

 _She did it… She won!_

"The one that's still standing is Levy McGarden!" the crowd erupted in cheers at the announcement from the judge. "Therefore, the winner of the match is Fairy Tail A - Levy McGarden! Earning her team 10 points from this match!" another round of cheers and applauses rumbled from the audience.

She raised her left hand in a victory sign and put her right hand on her hip. Fairy Tail mages went wilder and louder at that moment.

"You did it, Levy!"

"Great job, Levy-chan!"

"Yeah, Levy!"

"That was Manly!"

To emphasize the joyful and victorious environment, the dragon roared up to the sky above one more time.

Gajeel couldn't contain himself from cheering at her too in his gruff voice with a freaking proud grin plastered on his face "Great fight, Shorty!"

He felt Lily grinning at him with a sly look but he couldn't bring himself to care about that at the moment. He felt so proud of the little bookworm. She showed the world how strong she was. He knew that she held an amazing power but today she proved it to the rest of the world. No one would dare to look down on her again or pity her; she showed that knowledge and wits can win over brawns.

She performed amazingly in the battle.

 _You're amazing, Shrimp_

* * *

Levy felt as happiness and pride overwhelmed her senses. She had done it. She won the match for Fairy Tail, for her nakama, for her team. She really did it.

She threw her head back laughing to her heart's content when Ampago roared one more time and she heard the cheers from the Fairy Tail mages. It was an amazing feeling she experienced in that moment.

When she managed to catch her breath, Ampago lowered his head to the ground " _So, what do you say? Do you want to stick around?_ " she beat him in talking first, surprising him and herself for the bluntness of her question.

She knew that after summoning Ampago, he could decide to stay with her by creating a sort of pact between both of them. That way, she would be able to summon him in the future without the complexities that she had to overcome during this fight. It would work kind of the same way as the celestial spirits Lucy have contracts with. But Levy would have a pact with a dragon. A badass lightning dragon.

Ampago shook his head with an amused expression in his face and chuckled slightly " _As I said before, you have an interesting mind and soul. I want to learn more about you, Levy McGarden. It would be an honor to stay by your side a little longer_ "

She beamed at him and Ampago just laughed at how childish she looked like. Then, Levy raised her left hand as she catch a faint light coming from her inner forearm. There, she saw that, close to her wrist, a one-square-inch rune character carved itself into her skin and emerald-green light came out of it. She didn't feel pain, so she just stared at it for a couple of seconds marveling in the beautiful light that the lines were releasing.

She looked up at Ampago and saw as his body started to dissipate, transforming into golden magic particles that got carried away with the wind. She wasn't scared, because she knew that she would be seeing him again soon, so, instead of crying farewell to her newest friend, she smiled at him one of her biggest and brightest smiles.

Ampago bowed at her and the corner of his mouth twitched a little bit upwards, undoubtedly trying to force down his own smile. After a couple of minutes, Ampago's body disappeared; Levy was left standing now by herself in the middle of the arena and the clouds in the sky started to clear out.

Levy looked down at her left wrist and saw as the light dimmed, until the emerald rune mark on her body was the only thing left that indicated that this wasn't a dream.

She really summoned the lighting dragon into the battle; she really fought alongside the dragon; she really rode on the dragon's back; and she really won a match that could have been her end.

She took a deep breath and felt as her body finally caught up with the fatigue caused by the battle. She let herself fall flat on her back to the ground and sensed how tired she was feeling at the moment. Her muscles were sore, she had lost a lot of blood, she felt a concussion in her head and she had depleted all her magic energy reserves.

But even in that moment, she was smiling widely as she looked up to the blue sky. She had never felt so alive like when she was flying on Ampago's back. She wanted to marvel in that feeling once more and decided that it was going to be the first thing she'll ask Ampago to do when she'll meet him again. She wondered if the dragon slayers missed that sensation from flying on the back of their dragons.

 _Maybe I can ask Ampago to give all of them a ride. I'm sure Natsu and Wendy will be thrilled. I hope Gajeel will be happy about that too._

Then she closed her eyes and let sleep take her mind away from flying dragons and the feeling of the wind caressing her face.

 **It took me longer to edit than I thought but I'm glad it's done. Don't worry, there's still one more chapter before this story ends. Next chapter will have clear Gajevy moments so you can fangirl like I did when I wrote them down.**

 **Random author stuffs 1: So, I named the dragon 'Ampago' since Lightning in spanish is 'Relámpago' and I just took some letters out for it to sound cool.**

 **Random author stuffs 2:** **Levy ain't all mighty and powerful now. She ain't, trust me, it wouldn't be fun if suddenly she was the strongest in the world. There are rules and limitations to what she and Ampago can do, but I didn't find a way to put it down in this chapter. Probably won't describe it until the second Epilogue**

 **Random author stuffs 3: Y** **es, I'll post two Epilogues after the next chapter; I have one of them already written down and the other one is just waiting up to be put down into words. I'm thinking on writing a sequel to this story but it probably won't be very good because I don't have all the rules for that story firmly settled. Still thinking about that sequel, will let you know if I decide to continue or not.**

 **Random author stuffs 4: Sorry if it feels overwhelming for me to put down all the rules I'm following for my story to make sense (all of Freed's explanations) I'm the kind of person that needs to justify why I did something and how limitations apply to that event, so everyone can understand how amazing it is for my main character to overcome the obstacle.**

 **Thank you so much again!**

 **WTF(Where'sTheFood)**


	5. Chapter 5: Aftermath

**So sorry for the late update! I know I said I would upload this chapter before last Sunday but life happened and I got a little depressed during the weekend and I couldn't bring myself to edit this fluffy chapter while being sad.**

 **Yeah, this is the fluffiest chapter of the story. I tried my best and hope you'll like it. Please give me your opinions on how did it went.**

 **On a side note, I forgot to explain to you the plans that Levy used during the battle**

 **Plan A - Attack/Use of close range spells and height advantage to harm Bacchus**

 **Plan B - Barrier/Defensive strategy while using long range attacks (Fire)**

 **Plan C - Crash!**

 **Plan D - Dragon**

 **Let's get to the story! This can be consider the last chapter of 'For who do you stand for?' but there will be two more chapters that will be the epilogues (I'm so excited because I finally got the inspiration for the second epilogue and I think it will be really awesome)**

 **Reminder of last chapter:**

She took a deep breath and felt as her body finally caught up with the fatigue caused by the battle. She let herself fall flat on her back to the ground and sensed how tired she was feeling at the moment. Her muscles were sore, she had lost a lot of blood, she felt a concussion in her head and she had depleted all her magic energy reserves.

But even in that moment, she was smiling widely as she looked up to the blue sky. She had never felt so alive like when she was flying on Ampago's back. She wanted to marvel in that feeling once more and decided that it was going to be the first thing she'll ask Ampago to do when she'll meet him again. She wondered if the dragon slayers missed that sensation from flying on the back of their dragons.

 _Maybe I can ask Ampago to give all of them a ride. I'm sure Natsu and Wendy will be thrilled. I hope Gajeel will be happy about that too._

Then she closed her eyes and let sleep take her mind away from flying dragons and the feeling of the wind caressing her face.

* * *

( **A/N** this part will be Wendy's POV)

When Levy collapsed on the ground, Lucy, Wendy and Erza were the first ones to rush into the arena to help the solid script mage.

"She seems fine. She just needs to rest. Her magic energy is pretty low but with some hours of sleep she should feel better" Wendy stated after doing a quick check-up of Levy's health condition.

"Let's take her to the infirmary then" Erza said and Lucy nodded.

The red haired woman scooped up Levy in her arms and carried her bridal style towards the corridor that lead to the infirmary. Lucy and Wendy walked on each side of her and the sky dragon slayer checked on Levy's condition every couple of steps to make sure she was in no pain.

Once they got into the corridor, they found a tall dark figure standing in their way.

"Gajeel?" Lucy called his name. Her brows furrowed in confusion about what the iron dragon slayer was doing here.

Gajeel's aura wasn't threatening as it commonly was and his usual scowl was also missing from his face. Instead, his expression seemed both serious and soft. He came closer to them and just then, Wendy noticed that his eyes were fixed on Levy.

 _That's weird… Shouldn't he be with Team Fairy Tail B?_ Wendy thought.

"I'll take the Shrimp to the infirmary" he said calmly in his deep voice, but at the same time, he sounded so un-Gajeelish. He almost sounded like he was asking for permission -even though he didn't voice out a question- and his common gruff and demanding tone was nowhere to be found in those seven words he spoke.

"But Fairy Tail B's match is about to start. What if they call out your name?" Wendy inquired. The young dragon slayer found it confusing for Gajeel to be here and be offering to take Levy to the infirmary. After all, Erza was already carrying the girl without any trouble, so there was no logical reason behind Gajeel's actions.

"I'll be quick, I promise" He took one more step closer to Erza and extended his arms forward, silently asking the swordswoman to place Levy in his arms.

His gaze shifted then to Erza's eyes and the softness that his red eyes showed was nothing Wendy had ever seen before in the iron dragon slayer. He was asking Erza in a mute conversation to trust him and let him carry Levy.

His expression wasn't the usual as well. Instead of the 'do as I say or I'll punch you in the face' scowl, his features were more like 'please, let me take her to the infirmary myself'.

Wendy was at a loss about the behavior of the iron dragon slayer and she instinctively sniffed out the air to see if this person wasn't someone trying to impersonate Gajeel - it wasn't; he truly was Gajeel.

Erza studied his eyes for a moment and then complied with his request. She closed the gap between them with one step and carefully placed Levy in Gajeel's arms.

When he had a firm grip on the solid script mage, he shifted her weight on his arms so her head was resting on his shoulder and her arms were folded over her stomach. He nodded to Erza in gratitude and then headed towards the infirmary quickly with his long strides.

The three mages stared at his retreating back before looking at each other and silently agreeing to give the man a little bit of space before following him to the infirmary.

* * *

He didn't know why he had done that. He really was at a loss as to what took over him to go and ask 'politely' -well, as politely as Gajeel was able to- for him be the one to take Levy to the infirmary.

He was walking with her in his arms and he couldn't fight the desire to have her there for all eternity. Her head was resting on his shoulder and if he had one hand free, he would have brushed the strands of hair away from her face to admire her delicate features.

When he had seen her in Erza's arm, a part of him felt devastated at how her body looked like. She had multiple bruises and cuts, and her skin was stained with blood, sweat and dirt. She seemed so broken…

Maybe that was what pushed him in asking to carry Levy to the infirmary. He felt the necessity to hold her in his arms, to feel her warmth on his palms and to feel the pulse of her beating heart under his fingers just to make sure that she was okay. That she would be fine. It was necessary to get rid of the pang in his heart.

Yes, she seemed so broken, but at the same time, the smile on her face showed how proud she felt about the battle.

"Ya did great, Shorty" Gajeel said in a whisper. Pride and affection could be felt in those words.

As if replying to his compliment, Levy snuggled closer to his chest and placed her forehead on the crook of his neck, humming contently. She was yet asleep but Gajeel still blushed slightly thinking that maybe she had heard him. When he noticed she was still unconscious he let go the breath that had been caught up in his throat from embarrassment.

"Warm…" he heard her mumbling and couldn't help but to chuckle at how cute she looked.

"I ain't warm, Shrimp. Remember, I'm made out of iron" he whispered back, without expecting her to hear him. She just hummed one more time.

He reached the infirmary in no time and, reluctantly, placed Levy on one of the beds in the room. The pink haired hag was already hurrying him out of the place mumbling something about stupid brats getting in the way and being annoying.

He gave one last glance at Levy's body and left the room at the same time that Team Fairy Tail A walked into the infirmary.

 _She'll be fine_ he reassured himself.

* * *

( **A/N:** okay, so, everything in the second day went down the same: Natsu explained what happened about the attempt of kidnapping Wendy and company; the Raijinshuu stepped up to protect the injured ones; Mirajane battles Jenny; yada yada yada… We jump to the night of the second day of the games – the night after Levy's fight)

When she started to wake up, it was nighttime. She assumed she had slept for the rest of the day since her battle, letting her injuries heal gradually. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the room being faintly lit up with just the moonlight that slipped through the window on the far side of the room. It was dead quiet, so she presumed it was late at night, probably past midnight.

Levy stirred a little bit in the bed when the dizziness of sleep started to wear off. She moved her arms from under the blankets and held her hands in front of her face for closer inspection. She noticed the bandages she had in both forearms but her right hand was so heavily wrapped in gauzes that she could barely wiggle her fingers. She audibly sighed.

 _I won the match but I'm such a mess right now._

Then, she propped her torso up with her elbows to inspect the room where she was. She faintly noticed it was the infirmary, or at least a room similar to it, but the darkness of the night didn't allowed her to see much further detail of the room or if there were any other residents in the adjacent beds.

She then proceeded to sit up on the bed. When she tried to push herself further up, she put pressure on her injured hand and felt a huge wave of pain travel up to her shoulder. She hissed at the effort and mentally scolded herself for being so reckless.

Now sitting up on her bed, she noticed the gauze in her right hand started to tinge red.

 _Great. I probably opened the injury again._

With her left hand, she gently traced the red stains in her left hand. The faint touch of her fingers over the gauze caused her to draw a sharp breath in and scrunched her eyebrows in pain. It seemed that her left hand was much more sensitive than she initially thought it would be.

"It hurts…" she said in a low voice that almost sounded like a whimper.

Her eyes widened when she heard a low growl close by. With her initial inspection, she thought to be alone in the infirmary. Was she wrong? Was she in some danger that she had been oblivious up to this moment? What would she do? She was in no condition to escape from any threat right now and even less, try to defend herself from an enemy. She started to panic but didn't dare to turn around to look for the source of the noise.

 _Maybe if I stay quiet, nothing will happen. Maybe, I-_

"Then, don't touch it. Ya'll only hurt yerself more." She heard a gruff deep voice and she let go of the breath she was holding in. She felt relief flow through her body and her shoulders visibly relaxed once she recognized the owner of the voice. Still, her heart beat fast in her chest, but it was for an entire different reason now; instead of being frightened, she felt how her stomach did several funny flips due to be in the same room with _him_.

She turned her head to her left and found her suspicions to be true.

 _How didn't I notice him there before?_ She wondered and let her back rest against the headboard of her bed.

She saw his red eyes shining in the darkness of the room. The crimson light emitted from those orbs seemed to hypnotize her and she soon found herself unable to look away from them.

Gajeel was sitting on a chair on the left side of Levy's bed. He had his legs apart, his back rested against the wall and his arms were crossed over his broad chest. His eyes were fixed to hers and his face wore the usual scowl that adorned the handsome features of the iron dragon slayer.

Usually, people would get scared to be in the same room with someone as terrifying as Gajeel Redfox. Not Levy. No, she felt even more at peace to know he was there with her. She felt safer and happier whenever he was around.

"Gajeel..." she said in a hoarse voice. Her throat was as dry as a desert and her attempt of talking wound up in a fit of coughing that shook her entire body, causing a new wave of pain to shoot through her from head to toes.

The iron dragon slayer stood up and took the glass of water that was on the night table beside her bed. He handed it over to Levy, releasing the glass just when he was sure she was holding it tightly. She downed half of the glass in an instant and felt how the moisture returned to her throat and lips, making her feel incredibly pleased at the sensation.

Levy handed back the glass of water to Gajeel and he placed it back on the night table. He then scooted his chair closer to Levy's bed and sat down again.

She smiled at him before saying in her sweet voice "Thanks"

Gajeel only grunted in response, to which Levy assumed would mean 'You're welcome'.

"Where are we? What time is it?" she asked tiredly; she still felt exhausted from what happened during the day, but also wanted to spend some time talking to the iron mage that was currently examining her with his eyes.

"At the infirmary. It's two past midnight." he said curtly. He eyed her right hand and saw how the red stain seemed to keep spreading in the back of her hand. He stood up and took several bandages from the drawer on the night table.

Next, he sat on the edge of her bed and extended his hand to her. She looked at him questioningly and he then directed his gaze to her right hand and then to the gauzes in his other hand. She understood then what he was asking her to do and she carefully placed her injured hand on his big palm.

He proceeded to unwrap slowly her hand from the dirty bandages. She was surprised by the gentleness of his movements and soon she found herself mesmerized by the way his hands touched hers and performed their duty with the utmost care. He tossed the dirty gauzes to the garbage bin and then reached out to the night table to grab some disinfectant to apply to her injury.

"It'll sting a little" he warned her, and then sprayed the liquid over her hand. She hissed but tried her best to stay still until Gajeel was done with the cleaning process. He used a clean gauze to carefully wipe away the fresh and dry blood from her hand. Even when doing his best, the minimum contact caused Levy to fight away tears of pain that tried to flow from her eyes.

"Sorry" he mumbled quietly, feeling guilty at causing Levy any sort of pain. He then placed another clean gauze on her hand and started to wrap it up in clean bandages.

"It's okay" she said and took deep breaths to calm herself down. She needed to focus her mind away from the pain, so she decided to start a casual conversation "So, who brought me to the infirmary?"

"I did" he said without taking his eyes from his work. He finished wrapping the bandage and then used a pin to make sure it wouldn't fall off. "Ya passed out after wiping the floor with that bastard's ass" he released her hand but stayed seated on the edge of the bed, gathering the remaining gauzes and disinfectant and placing them on the night table. "By the way, that was a hell of a fight, Shorty" he looked up at her and smirked at his last comment, making Levy blush slightly from the compliment.

She huffed good-naturedly and shook her head from side to side "Nah, it was nothing. Anyone from the team would have done it better" she said and smiled at him.

 _And they wouldn't be such a mess like I am right now_ she said to herself and her smile flattered from feeling down after that thought crossed her mind.

Gajeel quirked an eyebrow "Really? Ya gave that drunkard a good run for his money AND summoned a mother fucking dragon in the meantime. Haven't heard of anyone that can do that, Shortstack" he showed her his toothy grin which made her heart flutter again.

She giggled and nodded, deciding to accept the compliment. She looked to the other side of the room, to where the moonlight was entering through the window and sighed. "You know…" she said, still not looking at the iron dragon slayer. "At first I didn't think I could win the battle."

( **A/N** switch to Gajeel's POV but continue immediately, not backtracking, not jumping forward)

Gajeel looked at her confusedly. He would have never thought something like that had crossed her mind. From the moment she stepped on the battlefield, she seemed so confident and calmed, so it was a surprise to hear the hesitation in her voice when telling him this.

"But then, I remembered everything that went down on Tenrou Island" she continued, still looking at the window. "Grimoire Heart, Acnologia… and against all odds we returned to the guild" Then, she turned around to look at Gajeel with her loving and beautiful eyes that made even the darkest night seemed like the brightest day. Gajeel stared back at her eyes, feeling how his heart started to pound in his chest, threatening to burst out.

"So, I thought 'Hey, if we survived that, maybe I do have a chance to defeat this guy'" she said and giggled "I know it sounds silly, but it really gave me the courage to fight up until the end. Same train of thoughts went for summoning Ampago" she smiled.

Gajeel was dumbfounded by her words. Did she really fight that way with just self-confidence in her abilities? She wiped the floor with Bacchus and fought like no one else did that he had seen before, and she did all that by just trusting herself. She kept falling to the ground beaten up and still picked herself up time and time again, because she believed in herself. Not because she was certain that she would win, but because she had the hunch that she might win…She stood up and fought out of pure will and courage…

 _God, can this woman be more amazing?_

"So, thank you, Gajeel" her voice brought him out of his inner musings.

"For what? Ya have nothing to thank me for, Shorty" he was confused and a little irritated by her kind words.

 _After all, I was the one who broke you…_ His chest tightened at the memory of the night he attacked Team Shadow Gear. He felt disgusted by his actions. How could he have harmed someone as pure and gentle as Levy?

 _And I barely managed to protect you in Tenrou._ He felt a sting of pain in his heart at remembering her screams when Kawazu and Yomazu attacked her. _If I had been even one second late, you…_ Gajeel tightened his jaw, not wanting to finish that line of thought.

"Well, you promised to make me big and you did. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, so thank you" Levy said and gave him one of her brightest smiles. Gajeel swore he could get blinded by that smile and he wouldn't give a damn about it. Hell! He'd teach Lily to be his blind man's guide if that meant that he could stare at Levy's smile even for a little longer. Just one look at her and all his worries vanished along with his self-hatred.

He looked away to hide the blush that threatened to appear on his cheeks, because damn it! Gajeel fucking Redfox didn't blush!

"Crazy fairy. Gihi!" he chuckled good-naturedly and looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"Hey! Watch it, you big can of metal! You're one of us, remember?" she playfully punched his arm with her left hand and laughed.

"Oh, don't I? I know ya wouldn't let me forget it, Shrimp" he rolled his eyes at her, but turned to face her again and grinned.

"That's right!" she puffed her chest proudly and laughed once again.

They stayed in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before one of the bells from the cathedral in Crocus chimed outside the room. In that moment, Levy realized it probably was three past midnight and that the man that was sitting with her had a competition the next morning.

"Why are you here, Gajeel?" she bluntly asked. "I-I m-mean-" she stuttered nervously when she noticed how rude she must have sounded, to which Gajeel only snickered.

"Geez, Shorty, if ya want me out of here, ya should just say so. Don't beat around the bushes" he teased her.

"Stupid Gajeel, you know that's not what I meant!" she poked out her tongue playfully at Gajeel before continuing "It's late and the games will start early tomorrow morning. You should go and sleep in your bed. Aren't you a little bit tired?" her voice showed concern for him and he felt heat rush to his cheeks once again.

( **A/N** Levy's POV. Continuing…)

Gajeel looked at the door and frowned. "Salamander told us that, earlier today, Raven Tail tried to kidnap the kiddo, her cat and the old pink hag. If it wasn't for him being here, they would have taken them to God knows where. So, I'm on patrol duty"

"Wendy, Carla and Porlyusica? What is Raven Tail planning to do?" Levy furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought as she tried to find a reason behind the attacks from Raven Tail.

"Don't know. But ain't gonna take any chances of them attacking ya" he stated strongly.

Levy looked at him and smiled at the kind gesture of the man. He was just trying to protect her. She sighed before saying "Still, you need to rest. You have a big day tomorrow and I can take care of myself, so don't worry-" she suddenly was interrupted by the man's angry outburst.

"Like hell! Ya were unconscious until minutes ago. Yer hand is still bleeding and yer barely able to stay awake. I ain't risking it, Shortstuff. I'm staying. End of discussion" He was facing her now and she could see the fury in his expression. His fists tightened on the edge of the bed and Levy saw how his shoulders shook slightly from pent up anger.

She knew he wasn't mad at her, but the sight in front of her made Levy's chest ache. The iron mage seemed to be in a big internal turmoil and he averted his gaze from her, trying to get a hold on his temperament.

Levy reached out with her left hand and placed it over one of his fists. With her thumb, she started to caress the back of his hand which seemed to calm down the iron dragon slayer slightly. He looked down at her hand in surprise, but didn't move his from her hold.

( **A/N** Gajeel's POV. Continuing…)

"Gajeel" her sweet voice made him look up to meet her hazel eyes. "I'm fine, okay? I'm right here, so don't worry yourself over me" her voice was full of love and care for the man.

"I ain't going anywhere, Shorty" he said slowly but gently, making his statement definite.

"And I'm not asking you to go. Just calm down, okay?" she smiled at him.

He took a deep breath and inhaled her beautiful and alluring scent: ink and cherry; that was the combination that described her best and the same combination seemed to work wonderfully to calm down the iron dragon slayer.

He opened his eyes (when did he close them?) and met the beautiful hazel eyes of the solid script mage. Dear Mavis, he could get lost in those eyes for the rest of his days and he would be the happiest man alive.

"There you go" she beamed at him and leaned back into the headboard of her bed. When she noticed she still had her hand over Gajeel's, she blushed and retrieved it quickly. Gajeel had to suppress the involuntary groan that threatened to erupt from his chest at the sudden loss of contact.

"You know? It's funny if you think about it. The big tough Black Steel Gajeel was worried about little Levy McGarden?" she deepened her voice when mentioning Gajeel's nickname and then raised it to a higher pitch when saying her name just to make her point clearer. "Who would have guessed that to happen?" she giggled.

"Har har. Keep laughing, Shorty" he responded unamused but a grin broke in his expressionless face. Damn it, he loved to hear her laugh.

"Come on, Gajeel. You have to admit it's kinda cute" she giggled again.

"Oi! I ain't cute, god dammit! And I'll kill ya if ya ever say that to anyone, ya hear me?!" Gajeel roared to which Levy only laughed louder.

"And to answer yer question…" he said when Levy's laughter calmed down "I wasn't worried…" he averted his gaze and looked at her from the corner of his eye. He felt anxiety crept to his heart but wasn't going to let it show in his face.

 _I was terrified_ he thought but felt incapable to admit that to her.

He noticed the stunned expression on Levy's face. _Shit! Did I say that out loud?! I did! I totally did! What the fuck is wrong with me!?_

She waited for him to continue. There was an internal turmoil in Gajeel's mind.

 _Okay, big guy. This is your chance. Tell her how you feel about her!_ This part of his conscience sounded awfully similar to Lily.

 _Wait, what?! No way! She's gonna freak out!_

 _She said she didn't want you to go, so she isn't going to freak out! Just grow a pair and tell her!_ Gajeel had to concede that 'conscience-Lily' had a point there.

"I… uhm…" Gajeel felt like he was sweating buckets in this moment. Levy stared at him with confusion and concern. He was looking at her with an expression of 'I have no fucking idea on what to say to you right now'. To say that Gajeel felt nervous would be an understatement.

 _Come on! Use words! Think! Use that head of yours for something else than just occupying space!_

 _Shut it cat! If yer so good at this, why don'tcha do it instead?! I ain't good with words, ya know!_

 _Then, don't use words! Show her! Show her how much she means to you._ The cat just scored another point. Is Gajeel keeping track of the score? Because Lily (well, conscience-Lily) is kicking his ass.

Gajeel decided to follow that advice and with a long sigh he made a bold move. He moved closer to Levy and placed his big hand over her left one, squeezing it affectionately.

"Listen, Shorty. I-" he started but then looked up at Levy's face and saw it was tinted with a bright red blush. She looked nervously at their hands and then back at Gajeel's face. Her eyes grew even wider and her face kept getting redder. Gajeel didn't notice but steam was coming out from Levy's ears out of embarrassment.

 _Oh God! She's freaking out! She's freaking out!_

He released her hand quickly and awkwardly turned slightly to the side. He scratched the back of his head nervously and tried his best to hide the blush that was spreading in his face.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and noticed she was still red as a tomato and that she held her hand close to her chest nervously. She seemed to be taking deep breaths to calm down and he managed to hear the rapid pace of her heart. Did he scare her?!

 _Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit! I screwed it up!_

 _Just say it! You lived with a dragon when you were a kid but are scared about what this girl might think of you?! Come on, Gajeel! Be a man!_ Freaking conscience-Lily was spending time with Elfman now.

 _Argh! Fuck it!_

"Listen closely, Shrimp, cuz I'm gonna say this just once" he said harshly without looking at her. Levy jumped slightly at the severity of his voice but paid close attention to what he was about to say.

 _Say it! Say it, god dammit!_

"W-what I mean-" he started nervously and glanced sideways at her. His eyes shifted and focused on her injured hand. He remembered how she got that injury during the battle; he remembered the pain he felt from seeing her getting hurt; but most of all, he remembered the dread he felt for not being able to fight alongside her.

Maybe he wasn't able to confess to her (yet), but at least he would let her know about what he settled down as his new resolution.

"Next ti-" he coughed to clear his throat, returning his voice to his usual tone. He kept his gaze fixed on her hand. "Next time yer fighting, I ain't gonna stay on the sidelines, alright? I'm jumping right into the fight and will kick the ass of anyone who dares to hurt ya. Got it?" He lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. His red eyes showed the seriousness of his statement.

After a few seconds, he averted his eyes from her and continued bashfully "It ain't because yer weak or small…"

 _Hell, ya proved to everyone that ya ain't_

"But I…" he gritted his teeth in frustration for not being able to continue. _But I ain't that strong… watching ya getting hurt again will be the end of me_.

Letting out a frustrated huff, Gajeel continued "I-I won't just sit by and do nothing if yer fighting, alright?" he hurriedly said.

 _You're a fucking coward! You couldn't confess to her or even admit that it pained you to see her getting hurt._ Damn conscience-Lily, he would not stop bothering him.

Gajeel made a mental reminder to beat the crap out of real-Lily for him had been so freaking annoying inside the iron mage's head.

( **A/N** Levy's POV continuing…)

Levy was stunned by his words. Well, this was the first time Gajeel had talked with her for more than a minute, but still! The way he voiced out his concern for her made her heart flutter once again.

She was aware that it had been extremely hard for him to say what he just said, so she made an effort to engrave in her memory every word he spoke.

Right now, Gajeel wasn't looking at her and she just realized that she hadn't said anything to his declaration. But what could she say? Maybe she was reading too much into this and he was just acting like a good friend to her. She was beyond confused right now and found herself speechless.

 _You need to say something, girl! He practically confess to you and you're just there acting stupidly._ Wait? Why did Levy hear Lucy's voice inside her head? Was that her conscience?

 _He didn't confess to me! I'm just reading too much into the situation. He would have said that to anyone else. I'm sure._

 _Well, as I can recall, he hasn't say that to anyone but you. So buckle up and tell him how you feel too._

 _B-but, I…_ Levy was getting more flustered by the inner discussion she was having with conscience-Lucy.

Then, she noticed Gajeel had shut his eyes tightly and seemed like he was just about to flee from the room.

 _See? Now he's regretting saying anything because you cannot tell him how you feel._

 _No, no, no! I don't want him to regret it! I loved every word he said!_

 _Then say something!_ God, conscience-Lucy was a real push-over.

 _But I just can't!_

 _Well, then DO something!_

Just when Gajeel was about to get up from the bed, Levy reached out her left hand and placed it on his. Slipping her slender fingers into his palm, she squeezed his hand affectionately. The iron mage froze in place and turned his head so his eyes met with hers.

"Okay" was all she mustered to say. She gave his hand another squeeze "Okay, Gajeel" and she smiled sweetly. Currently, she was fighting the blush that was creeping from her cheeks down to her shoulders.

He kept staring at her in surprise, but didn't move an inch away from her. Then, she moved her left hand out of his grasp and placed in on his cheek. She gently rubbed his skin with her thumb and felt how warm his cheek was.

 _The dork is probably trying too hard not to blush._

After the initial shock, Gajeel leaned his head into her hand, seemingly enjoying her gentle touch. "Okay" she repeated for the third time and her smile widened.

Gajeel showed his fanged grin and reached his hand to brush a strand of hair out of Levy's eyes. Then, he gently placed his hand on her cheek and she also leaned into his touch.

He shook his head good-naturedly "Don't leave my side, Shortstack". The fondness in his eyes made Levy weak on her knees and she felt how her heart wanted to hammer its way out of her chest.

She beamed at him before replying "Agreed".

They stayed like that for some time, enjoying themselves in the blissful silence that surrounded them. They didn't kiss, they didn't hug, they didn't voice out their feelings; they didn't do what most people do to demonstrate their affection to the ones they loved.

Just the minimum touch of their hands over their cheeks was proof enough for both of them on how important they were to each other. Just with that single touch and that single declaration of fighting together in the near future, they felt how their hearts and souls connected and understood each other through the silence of the room.

There was no need to say or do anything else. Words were _her_ thing and actions were _his_ thing. But silence, silence was _their_ thing. Through silence they were able to find comfort and peace; through their shared silence they were able to communicate and demonstrate their feelings towards the other.

And through silence Levy understood how important she was to Gajeel, and through silence Gajeel understood how lucky he was to have found someone like Levy.

( **A/N** Gajeel's POV. Continuing…)

After several minutes in which Levy tried, and failed, to fight off a couple of tired yawns, Gajeel stood up and helped Levy lay back down on the bed.

"I'm tired" she said with half-lidded eyes while Gajeel pulled the sheets to cover her up to her shoulders.

"Then, sleep" he said and sat down in his chair beside Levy's bed.

"Will you stay here?" her voice was somewhat apprehensive. She might not wanted to let it show, but she was probably scared to be left alone when there was Raven Tail's threat hanging over them.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere" he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze in a reassuring manner. It was his way of telling her that she was safe, that he will protect her against any enemy.

She hummed in appreciation. "Thank you, Gajeel" Then, she closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Once Gajeel heard her soft snores filled the emptiness of the room, he risked to answer "Anytime, Shrimp. Anytime"

He eventually drifted off to sleep as well, even for a couple of minutes. He woke up several times by random noises that came from outside of the room, but not once did their safe haven was threatened by any danger. He kept a watchful eye over her, but allowed himself to relax by sharing this space with her.

Because in the end she was fine and he was here. And the silence helped them to communicate and understand how much they loved each other.

* * *

 **This marks the end of 'For who do you stand for?' (Actually, chapter 4.5 could be consider the end of the story, but I really wanted to add this scene to the story). Thank you to everyone that review, follow and/or favorite this story! You mean a lot to me and I got encouraged whenever I got a notification of someone that had review, follow or favorite my story. So, thank you very very much!**

 **Random author's thoughts about this chapter**

 **Okay, maybe you're thinking that the romantic scene was not as romantic as you expected, but hear me out just a bit. Gajeel is definitely not a man of words; he is a man of actions. He shows his love for his friends through acts (weird acts of love, but acts nonetheless) like hugging Lily, giving nicknames to everybody, or being a human shield for Levy. And because he is used to fighting, he's a man that is comfortable with human contact (though not the kind that might be seen too romantic or intimate), so that's why he ruffles Levy's hair, wrestles with Natsu and Gray, and carries Levy like a sack of potatoes. So, he would always have a lot of troubles expressing his feelings through words.**

 **On the other hand, we have Levy who is a woman that expresses herself quite fluently through words, but she is quite shy to human contact. Why do I think this? Come on, she considers Jet and Droy as her brothers but you never see her hugging them or walking with them with linked arms; the only one that she allows to come physically close to is Lucy and even then Levy gets flustered when all the girls take baths together. So, Levy is someone that would uncommonly show her affections through physical contact.**

 **So, for both of them, it was a big effort to do what they did during their moments at the infirmary. I mean, Gajeel expressed his thoughts (maybe not his deepest feelings) with words that had a lot of fondness behind them and Levy reached out to initiate the physical contact with Gajeel (even when it was just holding his hand or caressing his cheek). So, yeah, that's my definition of something romantic – when you get out of your comfort zone (even by an inch) just to reach out for your loved ones.**

 **End of random author's thoughts**

 **Hope you liked the story and keep posted for the next two chapters and POSIBLE sequel.**

 **WTF (Where'sTheFood)**


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